Not good.
After a rain delay of over 4 hours, the Phillies and Nationals finally started at 11:30 PM. It is now just after 2, and the Phillies have lost by 2 to go down by 2 to the Dodgers.
With only 3 to play.
On the plus side, the Dodgers play the Giants to finish out the season. Dodgers-Giants is a rivalry just as heated as the more famous Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, and the Giants would like nothing more than to ruin the Dodgers' year by knocking them around.
But what's disappointing is that just a few days ago, the Phillies controlled their own destiny. They had a chance to go a game up in the Wild Card race and blew it, and have been losing ground ever since.
What makes it even more frustrating is that no matter what, at this point the Phillies will not have improved from last year. In 2005 they finished the season with a record of 88-74. The best they can hope to finish for 2006 is 86-76 (which was their record in '03 AND '04, incidentally).
Oh yeah, and Jeff Conine went 0-4, continuing what has been a shockingly horrific stretch run. He is now 0-11 over the last two games.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
FAULTY Week 4
2-12.
Not exactly what I'd call "random".
What was an experiment going reasonably well came completely unhinged last week with a dreadful performance by FAULTY that got only 2 games right.
On the bright side, one of those two was the Eagles game.
SO... after 3 weeks, FAULTY has posted a record of 20-26. Not so great, but one good week is all it will take to turn it around.
This, however, might not be that week.
With gems in there like the Jets over the Colts, I'm not too sure we won't see another horrendous week.
The things I do for completely flawed science.
By the way, this week FAULTY picks Green Bay over the Eagles. So far FAULTY is 3-0 on Eagles games. I find it unlikely the Eagles will lose to the Packers, so let's hope FAULTY's streak picking the Eagles comes to an ignominious end.
Not exactly what I'd call "random".
What was an experiment going reasonably well came completely unhinged last week with a dreadful performance by FAULTY that got only 2 games right.
On the bright side, one of those two was the Eagles game.
SO... after 3 weeks, FAULTY has posted a record of 20-26. Not so great, but one good week is all it will take to turn it around.
This, however, might not be that week.
With gems in there like the Jets over the Colts, I'm not too sure we won't see another horrendous week.
The things I do for completely flawed science.
By the way, this week FAULTY picks Green Bay over the Eagles. So far FAULTY is 3-0 on Eagles games. I find it unlikely the Eagles will lose to the Packers, so let's hope FAULTY's streak picking the Eagles comes to an ignominious end.
5 Hours Later
I'm not sure if I'm going to make it another 4 games.
Tonight, after just a shade under 5 hours (4 hours 53 minutes to be exact), the Phillies somehow, someway, managed to beat the Nationals 8-7 in 14 innings to stay 1 game behind the Dodgers for the Wild Card.
It was a game that featured a little bit of everything, and a whole lot of runners left on base. Both sides' lineups combined to leave a total of 53 men on base (that's per hitter, mind you), and Jeff Conine had just about the ugliest line you will ever see:
0-7, 2 K, 9 LOB
You saw that right. NINE FREAKIN' GUYS LEFT ON BASE. This has to be one of the worst games of his professional career.
What's funny is that for the first time in a long time, the Phillies actually put the lineup out there I had been hoping to see for the stretch playoff run: Burrell and Lieberthal were benched in favor of Dellucci and Coste. Now I'm not so sure I knew what I was talking about, as Dellucci continued his to put his newfound futility at the plate on display by going 0-4.
Coste on the other hand went 3-6 with a couple of big hits to raise his average to .332. If Lieberthal starts another game it will be a mistake. It's just that simple.
And get this: Fabio Castro got the save. FABIO CASTRO. Here's a guy who is at the absolute bottom of your pitching depth chart on an expanded 40-man roster. He was a first rounder in 2005... IN THE RULE 5 DRAFT.
The Phillies now lead the league in runs scored AND runners left on base. Will they cancel each other out? I don't know, but I DO know that those two stats add up to heart attacks and a lot of objects thrown at the television.
And by the way, Jimmy Rollins is pretty quietly having the best year of his major league career.
Just four more games... just four more games...
I sure hope there aren't just four more games.
Tonight, after just a shade under 5 hours (4 hours 53 minutes to be exact), the Phillies somehow, someway, managed to beat the Nationals 8-7 in 14 innings to stay 1 game behind the Dodgers for the Wild Card.
It was a game that featured a little bit of everything, and a whole lot of runners left on base. Both sides' lineups combined to leave a total of 53 men on base (that's per hitter, mind you), and Jeff Conine had just about the ugliest line you will ever see:
0-7, 2 K, 9 LOB
You saw that right. NINE FREAKIN' GUYS LEFT ON BASE. This has to be one of the worst games of his professional career.
What's funny is that for the first time in a long time, the Phillies actually put the lineup out there I had been hoping to see for the stretch playoff run: Burrell and Lieberthal were benched in favor of Dellucci and Coste. Now I'm not so sure I knew what I was talking about, as Dellucci continued his to put his newfound futility at the plate on display by going 0-4.
Coste on the other hand went 3-6 with a couple of big hits to raise his average to .332. If Lieberthal starts another game it will be a mistake. It's just that simple.
And get this: Fabio Castro got the save. FABIO CASTRO. Here's a guy who is at the absolute bottom of your pitching depth chart on an expanded 40-man roster. He was a first rounder in 2005... IN THE RULE 5 DRAFT.
The Phillies now lead the league in runs scored AND runners left on base. Will they cancel each other out? I don't know, but I DO know that those two stats add up to heart attacks and a lot of objects thrown at the television.
And by the way, Jimmy Rollins is pretty quietly having the best year of his major league career.
Just four more games... just four more games...
I sure hope there aren't just four more games.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
I don't know how I missed this, but the AFL decided on September 13th to institute a "free substition" rule change for next season.
What this means is the end of the 2-way style of play that made the league so interesting.
I can't even tell you how disappointing this is. When people ask me why I like Arena Football, the first answer that comes to mind has always been the 2-way players that play offense and defense. The substitution rules were a little complicated, but basically 6 guys on the 8 man side had to play both directions for an offensive and defensive series and then you could make some subs (it's more complicated than that, but for the purposes of this discussion it will suffice).
By eliminating this, Arena Football really just turns into the NFL in a box.
Worst. Rule change. EVER.
I already paid for my season tickets, so I'm locked in for next year with the Soul. We'll see how this goes over, but right now I'm really, really disappointed.
What this means is the end of the 2-way style of play that made the league so interesting.
I can't even tell you how disappointing this is. When people ask me why I like Arena Football, the first answer that comes to mind has always been the 2-way players that play offense and defense. The substitution rules were a little complicated, but basically 6 guys on the 8 man side had to play both directions for an offensive and defensive series and then you could make some subs (it's more complicated than that, but for the purposes of this discussion it will suffice).
By eliminating this, Arena Football really just turns into the NFL in a box.
Worst. Rule change. EVER.
I already paid for my season tickets, so I'm locked in for next year with the Soul. We'll see how this goes over, but right now I'm really, really disappointed.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
What a Week of Baseball
There are only 2 things better than the baseball season when it comes to excellent sporting events: 1) the last 2 weeks of the baseball regular season and 2) baseball playoffs.
In case you haven't been paying attention, the Dodgers comeback against the Padres on the 18th started off the week with a bang. In case you've been living under a rock (or just don't watch baseball), the Dodgers hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs (that's 4 straight) in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game, then Nomar hit a 2 run dinger in the bottom of the 10th to give them the win and help them keep pace with the Phillies and Padres in the 3 team race for 2 playoff spots.
I remember there was a time when Nomar would be mentioned in the same sentence as guys like Jeter and Tejada in discussions about the best shortstop in baseball. Clearly he's not (he doesn't even play shortstop anymore), but it is nice to see him really resurrect his career in LA.
The Phillies actually took the lead in the Wild Card race by half a game over those same Dodgers, boosted in large part by a sweep of the Marlins, which included a small comeback of their own with a 7 run third inning today. This was a great game, and the Phils really appear to be firing on all cylinders down the stretch right now with only a week left to play.
Not to be undone in drama though, the Padres beat the Pirates today with the help of Trevor Hoffman's record breaking 479th save. I actually got chills watching him run out onto the field for the 9th inning with AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" playing, even though I was rooting for him to lose. Particularly sweet was that he got the third out against Freddy Sanchez, the guy who will probably win the National League batting title.
Finally, I also watched Nomar do it again for the Dodgers today with a walk off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th against the Diamondbacks.
So as the dust settles, the Phils still rest 1/2 game ahead of the Dodgers in the Wild Card race, and the Padres stay a game and a half ahead of the Dodgers for the NL West division crown.
Oh yeah, and on another sports related note, I am told that FAULTY had a terrible week this week. Apparently something to do with the lesser sport of American rules football.
In case you haven't been paying attention, the Dodgers comeback against the Padres on the 18th started off the week with a bang. In case you've been living under a rock (or just don't watch baseball), the Dodgers hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs (that's 4 straight) in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game, then Nomar hit a 2 run dinger in the bottom of the 10th to give them the win and help them keep pace with the Phillies and Padres in the 3 team race for 2 playoff spots.
I remember there was a time when Nomar would be mentioned in the same sentence as guys like Jeter and Tejada in discussions about the best shortstop in baseball. Clearly he's not (he doesn't even play shortstop anymore), but it is nice to see him really resurrect his career in LA.
The Phillies actually took the lead in the Wild Card race by half a game over those same Dodgers, boosted in large part by a sweep of the Marlins, which included a small comeback of their own with a 7 run third inning today. This was a great game, and the Phils really appear to be firing on all cylinders down the stretch right now with only a week left to play.
Not to be undone in drama though, the Padres beat the Pirates today with the help of Trevor Hoffman's record breaking 479th save. I actually got chills watching him run out onto the field for the 9th inning with AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" playing, even though I was rooting for him to lose. Particularly sweet was that he got the third out against Freddy Sanchez, the guy who will probably win the National League batting title.
Finally, I also watched Nomar do it again for the Dodgers today with a walk off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th against the Diamondbacks.
So as the dust settles, the Phils still rest 1/2 game ahead of the Dodgers in the Wild Card race, and the Padres stay a game and a half ahead of the Dodgers for the NL West division crown.
Oh yeah, and on another sports related note, I am told that FAULTY had a terrible week this week. Apparently something to do with the lesser sport of American rules football.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
FAULTY Week 3
After going 10-6 last week, FAULTY now has an overall record of 18-14. I'm hoping a couple of the picks this week (like Cleveland over Baltimore, for example) will result in a losing week that will bring us back to perfect parity, but we'll see.
So far it FAULTY is 2-0 picking the Eagles, incidentally. Philly fans will be pleased to know that the power of atmospheric noise with skew correction is with them this week against San Francisco.
I promise the next post will NOT be football related.
So far it FAULTY is 2-0 picking the Eagles, incidentally. Philly fans will be pleased to know that the power of atmospheric noise with skew correction is with them this week against San Francisco.
I promise the next post will NOT be football related.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
FAULTY Week 2
Okay, so the first week of FAULTY could have gone better. 8-8 is not really a very impressive total... or is it?
In fact, it looks to be exactly random. So from that perspective, this first week was a resounding success, lending more evidence to my hypothesis that NFL results are completely random.
Yes, I know there is a logical disconnect there. In the words of the Pope, "Too bad."
At least, I'm pretty sure the Pope has said that at some point.
Anyway, here are the picks for Week 2. Will we see another week of perfect parity?
In fact, it looks to be exactly random. So from that perspective, this first week was a resounding success, lending more evidence to my hypothesis that NFL results are completely random.
Yes, I know there is a logical disconnect there. In the words of the Pope, "Too bad."
At least, I'm pretty sure the Pope has said that at some point.
Anyway, here are the picks for Week 2. Will we see another week of perfect parity?
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