Maddux Sports Blog

So much for that Heisman trophy clarity I was hoping for from last night’s game. Tony Pike reinjured the arm he broke last week just before the half. That means that he missed all but a couple of plays of the second half, and will very likely miss at least one more game – Louisville next week. Pike hadn’t played great before the injury, either – he had thrown for two touchdowns, but but had completed less than half of his passes. That’s the end of another Heisman campaign.

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I’m very intrigued by tonight’s Big East showdown. Cincinnati has a pretty clear road to the BCS if they beat South Florida, and the Bulls have the same if they win. For South Florida that’s especially surprising because stud QB Matt Grothe is on the sideline for the year. There is all sorts of intrigue in this one – is Cincinnati for real? How about South Florida’s surprisingly stout defense? Can Cincy QB Tony Pike put himself into the heart of the Heisman race with a big performance here? How about Cincy receiver Mardy Gilyard? Do the Bearcats deserve national championship consideration? How much of a joke is the Big East? This is probably the highest profile Thursday night game we have seen yet this year. Last week we saw Nebraska, and Ndamukong Suh made a big leap into the Heisman race thanks to that game, so anything can happen here. I really respect Cincy coach Brian Kelly and tend to think that he has things going in the right direction with this program, so I am hoping for them. It’s a tough team in tough location, though, so it certainly won’t be easy.

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I was very, very disappointed to see the Vikings play last night. I’m so sick of Favre and his whole act that I was really hoping he’d continue to struggle. Hopefully that would lead him to going away faster. Unfortunately, he looked perfectly competent last night. In fact, he looked even a little better than than. He was comfortable and confident, and you could already tell that he was enjoying the concept of having an all-World running back for the first time. I don’t feel nearly as assured now of the ultimate failure of this experiment as I did a while ago, and that disappoints me.

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Last week, I considered where teams were in the American League when it came to making the 2009 playoffs. In this blog, with less than 60 games left in the season, I take a look at the National League. Here’s the way that things are shaking down on the senior circuit.

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Here we at the end of month three of the 2009 Major League Baseball season with about 75 games played and 87 to go. There’s been some movement, drift and milestones In the American League as the West is in flux, the Central is looking a tad odd and the East looks like it can change at any moment. Let’s take a quick look at each division.

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MLB is in high gear as is NASCAR and the PGA. Plus, the NBA and NHL playoffs are entering their final rounds. And sooner than later NFL and NCAA football will be prepping for another season. Here’s a look at what’s going on in the world of sports.

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There’s only one big story in sports today, and it is far from a pretty one. Hitting savant Manny Ramirez joins the frustratingly long list of high profile drug cheats in major league baseball, and becomes the first of them to get caught red-handed and face immediate and concrete punishment.

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The MLB season is a month old. Let’s take a look around the league.

Red Sox and the AL East

After a slow start, the Boston Red Sox have gone 12-13 and taken over first in the AL East. That record includes sweeps of Baltimore, Minnesota and the New York Yankees. The Red Sox beat the Yanks every which way, including hammering them, in extra innings and simple eking out runs. Once again for the Yanks, their biggest problem resides in their pitching staff. Their other problem is associated with the age of the club. Most of these guys are injury prone. Nothing seems to be working for the Tampa Bay Rays. They are bedeviled.

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Well, it is almost here. Right? So, what the heck is going to happen? The baseball season runs 162 games—the longest season in the professional sports. It is an unforgiving seven-month marathon that demands innumerable roster moves, amazing stamina and individual team play that can make or break an entire season in one game, swing or pitch. What can we expect? Here are ten things that I do believe will happen. Some are for sure and others may appear to be farfetched. Then again, futures are one of the toughest things to get right in sports. 

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As I write this I am watching Monday Night Football. It is early in the third quarter, and the Browns are up 20-14. This is why I love sports betting so much. On paper there is absolutely no way that Cleveland should be competitive in this one. They have been inept all year, their hottest offensive threat is in the hospital, their QB has been terrible, and they are facing the hottest team in the league. If you hadn’t been following the season, though, and you sat down to watch this game you would guess that the Browns are the juggernauts and the Giants are the ones who are struggling. The Cleveland offense is crisp and creative. Their defense is forcing Eli Manning to make bad mistakes and get out of rhythm. I still think the Giants will likely pull out the win, though probably not the cover. Still, this is the kind of game that keeps things so interesting – you would have had to have been psychic to have seen this one coming.

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