October | 2009 | Wait until next year

October 30, 2009

MLB play-offs braindump #11 – World Series!

Finally. After 2,430 regular games, one ‘play-in’ game and 24 play-off games, the 2009 major league baseball season is down to two teams to see who is the best team in baseball. Wednesday night was the start of the World Series, with the New York Yankees facing last year’s winners, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Now we’re two games in, and the seven game series is tied one-apiece, and is now heading to Philadelphia after the first two games at Yankee Stadium.

The Phillies looked very strong in game one, winning 6-1. Cliff Lee pitched a dream and Chase Utley hit two home runs. It was quite the statement of intent. As much as many (including me sometimes!) would love to count out the Yankees, you just can’t. And last night proved that, with them getting a 3-1 win, and this time AJ Burnett was the pitching star of the evening.

The memorable moments of the post-season, prior to the World Series, had been mistakes, from fielding and running errors to pitching meltdowns and questionable umpiring. What has been so good about the World Series, so far, is that the games have been all about great performances, not players (or umpires) having a nightmare. In particular, every starting pitcher has put on a great show.

For any major sporting final this is ideal, this is how it should be. Probably the two best teams in the sport, finding out who is really the best, not the least worst. If that makes sense? Long may the series continue!

October 30, 2009

Man Crush Friday – Liverpool Edition

Apologies to all my avid readers for the lack of new posts this week – I had a brief holiday, with no access to the internet. But here I am, back with a vengeance, with another one of those annoying filler posts!

This week, following Liverpool’s big win against Manchester United last Sunday, here’s a classic goal from that fixture in 1985, this week’s Man Crush – Jan Molby…look at him move!

And while we’re raiding YouTube for clips, here’s regular commenter Steven Harris‘ crush from last week, King Kenny himself…

I’ll be back into the swing of proper posts sooner rather than later, but hopefully this should keep you all going for now!

2 Comments

October 23, 2009

The return of Man Crush Friday

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While perusing my stats, like every blogger secretly does, hour by hour, day by day, I realised that despite my insightful analysis and witty asides on the state of sport, one of the most popular posts was all about having a man crush on a particular sportsman.

And so, much like Lazarus from the flames, here comes another Man Crush Friday, where we look at the sportsmen we idolise, adore, or just think are all-round swell guys.

My Man Crushes this week are Jenson Button and Tom Brady (see above for dreamy pics). Button has done a fantastic job winning the Formula 1 championship with a rookie team, while Tom Brady, one of the best quarterbacks ever, is in London this week, for the annual NFL game at Wembley.

So, who are your sporting Man Crushes this week?

8 Comments

October 23, 2009

MLB play-offs braindump #10 – Angels stay alive

Being a responsible citizen and employee, I didn’t stay up for last night’s Angels/Yankees game, and frustratingly, the condensed game wasn’t ready on mlb.com as I wolfed down my breakfast this morning. So, I’ll keep this post cheap and cheerful, and rely on the couple of clips I did see.

The Angels managed to stay alive in the series with a 7-6 win. The series is now 3-2 in the Yankees favour, as it returns to New York. So, I’m not so sure the Angels will be staying in this for long, as they need to win twice in New York to make the World Series.

It looks to have been quite a game, with a particular flurry of runs in the seventh inning, in a real seesaw outing. The Angels got the perfect start, scoring four runs in the first. The Yankees came back with a vengeance in the aforementioned seventh, scoring six. The Angels’ seventh inning was a pretty good fightback in itself, with three runs putting them back in the lead. They then held on, despite the Yankees loading the bases in the ninth.

So…the series isn’t dead yet. And the Yankees are looking just a tiny bit more human and fallible. At least until the next game, tomorrow night, that is.

October 22, 2009

MLB play-offs braindump #9 – Phillies reach the World Series

Last night the Philadelphia Phillies reached baseball’s World Series for the second year in a row, and are on course to retain their title.

The Phillies beat the Dodgers 10-4 on the night, and 4-1 in the series, to become National League champions, and will now face one of the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, still going at it in the American League series.

As the score betrays, this was a night for the hitters, not the pitchers. The highlights made it look more like a home run derby than a play-off game. There were sixteen hits in all, including seven home runs. Padilla for the Dodgers saw his post-season form grind to a halt, giving up six runs in three innings. His counterpart, Cole Hamels, wasn’t a whole lot better, giving up three runs, before being pulled from the game in the fourth.

The Dodgers had their chance to mount a memorable late comeback, but failed to make the most of loading the bases late on. And so the Phillies go through, and in all probability to face the Yankees.

Neither side is the most likable, so in the meantime I’ll be rooting for the Angels to turn around their series against the Yankees. As that looks like a losing battle, I’ll perhaps take this advice from Fear and Faith in Flushing, and reluctantly support the Phillies…

Month: October, 2009