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| Author: | lw789 [ Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | ular season football let the playoffs b |
After 20 weeks of regular season football let the playoffs begin! For all players, coaches and management types that made the postseason this week is a good one because whether you have the bye or a game this Sunday, you know the season and an opportunity is present. Based on the history of this league whether youre the crossover team or the team with the best record in the league you cant win it all because it truly is about who plays the best that day. Not day after day, that single, solitary day. For Ottawa and Toronto who played last Friday night, have no doubt - this 2014 season was disappointing because the truth is in a nine-team league if you dont make the playoffs what other possible conclusion can you draw? In the case of Ottawa the honeymoon is over and expectations will surge towards winning and entertaining and no longer creating and improving. The two positive goals that were established for the Redblacks is in stadium fan attendance and a core of good players to build on. The in-stadium fan response was special because it was maintained throughout the year. I anticipated it to waver as the season moved on but it didnt and that was enjoyable to watch. No doubt with a better team that spirit will continue into 2015. Many of the players on the present Ottawa roster will be on next years squad and I feel they accomplished their goal of finding a core of players. They do need more but a sense of continuity was evident in the second half of the season and that group of about 12 will be better than this next year if for no other reason than they are in the same system for another year. I would definitely bring Henry Burris back but they do have to find the next Mike Reilly to create an effective image of success. Age effects all and Henry is no longer a puppy, more an older pit bull. For Toronto through the season they were painful to watch for two reasons. For one, injuries to key players were consistent and the other was the embarrassing absence of true professional football training and practice facilities. We all noticed the turn-around in Hamilton with the addition of Tim Hortons Field and the Argos need to find their own Tim Hortons Field to be a rejuvenated success. And they need to develop the next Ricky Ray who will be closer to 40 than 30 at the end of the 2015 season. I think it is a truth to say the No. 1 challenge for the next commissioner is to solve the Toronto Argonaut problem. In BC there is no other team with a more difficult challenge going into the playoffs than the Lions. They lost their last twp games by pretty dominant scores, to Edmonton 37-3, and last week at home to Calgary 33-16. Their confidence is being tested but once again even though they travel west to east it is a one-game event in football, so BC needs to rediscover its confidence for Sunday November 16 as that is the only day it is needed. Stephan Logan for BC makes a difference. He had 117 yards rushing and 70 yards in pass receptions and is the guy the Lions can lean on. For Montreal even though they lost to Hamilton 29-15 they beat BC 24-9 in Week 2 and 41-5 in Week 4. That was a long time ago, and beating the same team three times in one year is tough to do, so advantage BC. This one will not be easy for an Alouette team coming off the Tiger-Cat loss. I give BC a real chance for the upset. With Calgary they are set to sit, wait and pounce. Scoring 33 points and winning and getting all healthy again with a bye week ahead, the Stampeders are the team to beat. For the Ticats the win over Montreal was significant in so many ways. First, they remained undefeated at Tim Hortons Field, home of the East final. The bye week is the first rest in 13 weeks for Hamilton as their two regular season byes came in the first half of the season. Plus, they have a defence that continues to improve by making game-changing plays or taking away a teams best player. Duron Carter had 11 catches for 185 yards against Toronto two weeks ago, against Hamilton he had only four catches for 43 yards. From a record of 1-6 back in August to East Division champions and now one game away from the Grey Cup, well done Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The West semi-final will match Saskatchewan at Edmonton and just like BC the Riders have a good chance for the upset, and it would be an upset indeed. But Saskatchewan did run for an amazing 193 yards between all running backs and their quarterback and do have a pivot who has played playoff football before. They had no Mike Reilly and no John White last game, but trust me when I say this, if Edmonton does not play its best football it will not win. Kerry Joseph can handle the pressure. BC at Montreal at 1pm et, Saskatchewan at Edmonton at 4:30pm et this Sunday on TSN. Let the playoffs begin! . But luckily for the Canadian squad, one goal was all it needed. Winnipegs Sophie Schmidt scored the winner off a Diana Matheson corner kick to seal Canadas third-place spot in the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino in Brazil on Sunday. . has left the San Jose Sharks to become the Boston Bruins director of player personnel. http://www.cheapnhldevilsjerseysauthent ... ner-jersey. Rookie Christian Vazquez got his first three major league hits and drove in three runs, while David Ortiz had three RBIs to break open the game in the sixth inning and lead Boston over the Houston Astros 8-3. . "I honestly dont know," he said. Try this: 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Rajon Rondo, a 62-37 rebounding advantage by the Celtics and a horrible 4-for-30 shooting performance on 3-pointers by the Nets. . There, I saw a teenaged boy with tears in his eyes, being consoled by strength and conditioning coach Randy Lee. TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays dug themselves a massive hole, then almost managed to climb out Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. But when it was all over they had wasted another lead, seen another pitcher flame out on the mound and lost their fourth straight at home. After roughing up Clay Buchholz for three runs in the first inning, Toronto (11-13) found itself behind 6-3 after three innings as starter Brandon Morrow literally lost control. A late comeback by the Jays fell short as Boston (12-13) hung on for a 7-6 win. Morrow (1-2) walked a career-high eight of the 14 batters he faced before being pulled after 2 2/3 shocking innings before an announced crowd of 40,322 under the roof at the Rogers Centre. "Its not a good feeling when you can take the blame for the game and put it squarely on your shoulders," said Morrow, who made no excuses as he threw himself on his sword. "I came in with one goal and that was to pitch late in the game and keep us in it. I let down the team in a big way today." Twice he was rescued by double plays before the bottom fell out in a six-run Boston third that saw Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker ejected for back-chat to home-plate umpire Jeff Kellogg. "Its embarrassing to not be able to command your fastball," said Morrow, who said physically he was fine. "I had decent command of the other stuff." The first walk of the afternoon, to Red Sox leadoff batter Dustin Pedroia, was the 100th Jays free pass this season. Toronto pitchers issued nine walks on the day, with David Ortiz the recipient of three. "Weve been walking way too many guys all year," said manager John Gibbons. "Thats unlike us. Weve got some strike-throwers." A.J. Pierzynski hit his eighth career grand slam to power the Red Sox offence before Toronto staged a nail-biting late comeback. The Jays sent eight men to the plate and scored twice in the eighth before leaving the bases loaded. Jose Bautista, facing closer Koji Uehara, then opened the ninth with his seventh homer of the year -- and 175th as a Jay -- to cut the lead to 7-6. Dioner Navarro and Brett Lawrie singled, around a Colby Rasmus strikeout, to keep the drive alive. But Edwin Encarnacion flied out to end the rally and give Uehara his fifth save. "All year long those guys have been battling," said Gibbons. "Thats all you can ask for as a manager, that they dont pack it in." Over the last four losses, Toronto has given up 36 runs on 47 hits and 22 walks. The Jays allowed their opponents off the hook in three of those games, with the Orioles staging comebacks Wednesday and Thursday. Buchholz (1-2) survived a three-run first to help Boston to its seventh win in 11 games. He gave up three runs in seven innings on six hits, three strikeouts and two walks. Buchholz threw 105 pitches, 67 for strikes. Juan Francisco homered for Toronto, his second blast in as many days, to greet Boston reliever Junichi Tazawa in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Encarnacion then singled home Navarro to make it 7-5 as Tazawa gave up his first runs of the season. Chris Capuano came on with men on first andd third and one out.dddddddddddd He struck out Jonathan Diaz but walked Jose Reyes after a 10-pitch showdown to load the bases. Uehara then induced Cabrera to pop up to shallow left field. On a strange day Toronto outhit Boston 13-5, left 11 men on base to the Red Soxs four, and lost. "Weve been struggling in certain areas, its no secret," said Gibbons, refusing to point the finger at one element of his team. "But were going to get better." Morrow has failed to last six innings in four of his five starts this season, as well as nine of his last 14 dating back to last season. His descent into the pitching mire was swift Saturday. Only five of Morrows 14 pitches in the first were strikes. He was 11-for-31 after two innings and 25-for-66 when he was removed in favour of Chad Jenkins in the third. Morrow wouldve been living only marginally more dangerously if he was juggling chainsaws on the mound. With two out in the third Morrow walked four straight and was removed, with the Jays somewhat amazingly still leading 3-1. Two balls later, Pierzynski slammed the grand slam homer off the newly recalled Jenkins, who promptly gave up a solo shot to Will Middlebrooks for a 6-3 Boston lead. It was the second homer of the season for both. "We took advantage of a high number of walks," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "One of the things we do well is not expand the strike zone and that was the case again today." Morrows outing marked the 11th time a Jays pitcher has given up eight or more walks in a game. The club record is nine, by four different pitchers (Pat Hentgen, Jim Clancy, Chris Carpenter and Jesse Jefferson). Consecutive doubles by Mike Carp and Grady Sizemore in the fifth extended the Boston lead to 7-3 and chased Jenkins in favour of Aaron Loup. Buchholz also had trouble finding the strike zone in the first and paid for it after issuing a leadoff walk to Reyes. The Jays shortstop was running on Cabreras single and came home on Bautistas deep single to left-centre. Cabrera scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 with no outs. Bautista, who extended his on-base streak 24 games, came home on Navarros deep single to right to make it 3-0. The Red Sox starter threw 26 pitches in the first, with just 13 for strikes. He faced just three batters in the second but needed a successful challenge to remove Reyes, who had been called safe on an infield hit. Buchholz walked two with two out in the third but escaped damage and ended up blanking the Jays for six straight innings. He had gone winless in his first four starts for the first time of his career. But, despite the rocky opening the trip to Toronto proved to be a tonic for the 29-year-old right-hander. Buchholz arrived with a 9-5 career mark and 2.44 earned-run average against Toronto and was 7-2 with a 1.09 ERA in 10 starts at the Rogers Centre. Toronto used six pitchers, with Loup, Brett Cecil, Steve Delabar and Sergio Santos helping douse the fire set by Morrow and Jenkins. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, on his bobblehead day, is scheduled to pitch Sunday against Boston left-hander Jon Lester in the series finale. ' ' ' |
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