Goodbye, Bo.

Bo Schembechler, Michigan football coaching legend, died today at the age of 77.

Truly a loss for the Michigan community. Let's keep Bo and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

Kellett's Keys to Victory
Why Michigan Will Beat Ohio State

1. The Running Game

I don't see this being a very high scoring game. I don't think anybody really does. Anthony earlier estimated that there's maybe an 8% chance this thing turns into a shootout. Michigan's running game gives them an advantage in this regard. I refuse to even acknowledge pundits (cough Mark May cough) who think that Antonio Pittman is as good of a running back as Michael Hart. Sorry, not buying it. You're telling me that with a noticeably more dangerous passing attack, Pittman didn't average 4.0 ypc in every game? Sorry. That means you're not an elite running back. I'm not saying Antonio Pittman isn't good, he certainly is. But elite running backs like Michael Hart don't rush 32 times for only 58 yards (1.8 ypc) against Illinois, or 2.7 ypc against Michigan State.

Pittman will be facing one of the best run defenses in the history of college football, so I expect him to be limited to at least below 3 yards per rush, if not worse. Michael Hart, on the other hand hasn't averaged worse than 4 yards per rush in any game this season while averaging over 124 yards per game. Granted, this could end up being his least productive game of the season, but the consistency he's shown me has proven that he will at least be effective in helping Michigan control the ball, gain first downs, and ultimately win the field position battle. Michael Hart must do this. If Antonio Pittman outperforms Michael Hart, Michigan will not win.

2. A Defense That Doesn't Depend on Turnovers

Both teams have very good defenses. Michigan is allowing an astonishing 22 yards per game on the ground, and 231 overall, while Ohio State leads the nation allowing only 7.8 points per game. However, the key difference is that Michigan's defense does not depend on turnovers. Ohio State has 22 interceptions this year, which is an enormous part of their nation-leading 7.8 ppg allowed on defense. However, in a game as important as this, turnovers are not going to be found around every corner. Michigan has Michael Hart, who has not lost a fumble in his career, and I would be shocked to see Michigan put Henne in a situation where he's made to force a pass. Henne is hopefully too smart at this point in his career to throw an interception in a game like this just because he's getting backside pressure. He will take the sack.

Take a look at the yards per play stats:

Michigan defense: 1.3 yards per rush
Ohio State defense: 3.2 yards per rush
(Keep in mind that Michigan has played a tougher schedule which included NCAA leading rusher PJ Hill)

Michigan defense: 5.5 yards per pass attempt
Ohio State defense: 5.5 yards per pass attempt

Michigan sacks: 41
Ohio State sacks: 33

I think from this analysis it's clear that Michigan has a better defense. Turnovers depend a lot on other variables, as do points allowed per game. Ohio State has a great defense, no doubt about it, but considering Michigan's tougher schedule and their clear statistical advantage in some categories, I think they have a defense that will put their offense in good field position often enough to win this game. If Michigan can get to Troy Smith a few times, and effectively shut down Antonio Pittman, Michigan will win this football game, with or without creating turnovers.

My Prediction:
Michigan 20 Ohio State 13


Robertson's Reasons:

1) Pop 'em early. Stay aggressive.
For the Blue to win this game the last thing they can do is play scared. OSU is going to be loading up to stop Hart, and when they do, we have to take our shots down the field regularly. If we can get OSU's safeties off the line, we'll eat up their ground game. I think all Wolverine supporters understand that, ideally, Hart gets thirty rushes in this game. But, the worst thing we can do is suffer a bunch of three and outs, which would mean: Punt to Ginn, Punt to Ginn, Punt to Ginn. Ohio State hasn't faced a downfield passing attack like ours all year, test those corners and safeties early and often.

2) Understanding Troy Smith
All the analysts keep talking about how Michigan has to bottle up Troy Smith and not let him make plays with his feet. This is true. But the problem with Troy Smith this year, hasn't been when he runs with the ball, but rather when he avoids the rush and then chucks the ball downfield. Let's be honest, Ted Ginn is an awful route runner, and has trouble getting open on his inital move. But as soon as Troy Smith avoids the rush and moves out of the pocket. The game turns into a punt return for Ginn and he uses his track-star speed to rush for an open area. So, what's the key: When Michigan blitzes, they HAVE to get to him, and when they don't, bottle up Ginn and Gonzales in a stifling zone.

3) What to do with Leon Hall
It's really amazing that all week I have not heard an analyst ONCE mention Leon Hall. NOT ONCE!!! He might be the best player on the best defense in the country, and is the best cornerback in the land. I see Michigan employing a similar strategy as they did against Notre Dame: Let Hall bottle up Gonzales, and roll the rest of the coverage towards Ginn. Gonzales has become a media darling because he routinely faces the team's second best corner, and no one rolls the coverage towards him. Confuse Ginn (who doesn't read a defense well) with multiple zones on his side (and always give safety help over the top) and take out Gonzales with (let me repeat) THE BEST CORNERBACK IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL.

4) Be smart on 3rd and Long.
I still want to be in attack mode all game, but we really need to understand that 3rd and 13 inside our 35 is running down. Ohio State's defense has made it's hay all year on getting interceptions and fumble/sacks on these third and longs. Don't play into their hand and risk a big turnover on our side of the field. Give the ball to Hart or Jackson, punt the ball, and get the defense on the field.

5) BLOW UP THE GIMMICK PLAYS (ie, Stay at home).
Michigan's defense is so solid at every position (look away Morgant Trent. LOOK AWAY!), that it's tough to envision Ohio State killing us with off tackles, dives, button-hooks, or fly routes. But, they certainly have a ton of read-options, reverse-passes, double-reverses, and flea flickers up their sleeves to turn the big play. And, unlike a team like Indiana, when a team with this kind of offensive speed and firepower runs a gimmick play it's scary. So English has to be preaching to his guys not to overpursue. It's all right to bend a little and give up a first down - that won't kill you; but giving up that 44 yard reverse will.

I think Michigan has the more talented football team. I really do. Who knows how it will play out one solitary Saturday in Columbus, though.

Now: A Few Good Men:

Sam: Did I ever tell you I wrote a paper about that '97 Michigan team?
Kaffee: Yeah
Sam: One of the best teams ever
Kaffee: Yeah they were.
Sam: And if I were Dawson and Downey and I were given a choice between the '97 team and this year's team to represent me in the Horseshoe this year, I'd pick this team every day of the week and twice on Sunday. You should've seen them thunder away at Notre Dame.
Kaffee: Would you beat #1 OSU in the Shoe?
Sam: No
Kaffee: You think the '97 team would've?
Sam: With the talent OSU's got, not in a million years. But here's the thing, and there's really no way of getting around this. Neither the '97 team nor Sam Weinberg is playing in the greatest game of all time, so there's really only one question. What would the 2006 team do?

My answer to that: Michigan 31 - OSU 20

Collision in Columbus

History lives here.

Rivalries live here.

Michigan - OSU lives here.

It's the biggest college football game of all time.

The only way it could be equalled is if the SEC abolished the championship game, and let Auburn - Alabama play in their last regular season game - undefeated. But other than that, it's not happening and may never happen again.

The dominance of these two teams has been unmistakable. The most nervous moment for either team all year was Ball State's game-tying drive at the Big House two weeks ago. That's it. Neither team has trailed in a fourth quarter all year. Neither team has won a game by less than a touchdown all year. Both teams went on the road and demolished quality opponents. Neither of these teams have anything approaching a tainted win - no bullshit Craig Krenzel chucks on 4th and 1; no dropped Braylon passes setting up game-winning field goal; no hail mary kick in the end zone.

Nothing. Dominance to the point of boredom.

Usually the Ohio State game is Blue's one last shot at redemption. One chance to right the wrongs - a three loss season, a loss on the road to Oregon, getting blown out by Notre Dame; slipping up against State. OSU is the salve to slather the wounds of a Kordell Stewart chuck and a Westbrook catch.

Not this time.

Not with a defense that features America's best d-tackle, best linebacker, and best cornerback.

Not with Mike Hart whose bludgeoning consistency sometimes overshadows his brilliant talent and charismatic leadership.

Not with a quarterback who can put a ball in a laundry basket from 50 yards away.

Not with a wide receiver, who relies not on overwhelming speed or freakish size, but on the route-running of Chad Johnson and Marvin Harrison's demeanor, to constantly beat corners.

Not with David Harris, whose label as "solid" has gotten to the point of being an insult to his play, which ranges much closer to the spectacular than solid.

Gone are the blinding talents of Braylon, Perry, Marlin and Watson whose speed and strength made them look like NFL players caught in a college game; but who sometimes lacked Avant, English, and Hart's lunch-pail focus.

Gone is the micro-managing Jim Herrman whose wisdom in '97 turned into too much tinkering that bottled up considerable defensive talent.

Instead, make no mistake about it. This is Mike Hart's team. It's a team that couldn't give two shits about endorsements, looking good on camera, NFL stock, or even a Heisman trophy.

It's a team where Braylon's well-spoken politician's style and movie-star looks have been replaced by Mario Manningham's shyness with reporters

Marlin Jackson's "me against the world" attitude has been replaced by Leon Hall's demeanor which is more nerd than thug.

Gabe Watson's uninspired hustle has been replaced by Alan Branch's puppy-like enthusiasm.

It's a team that plays with a quiet passion and an overwhelming intensity.

And, honestly, I don't know if we'll win. I don't know how good OSU is. I can't tell if they're phenomenally good, or merely very good. I don't know how Henne will do in Columbus. I don't know if they can bottle up Hart, or if we'll make a mistake on our side of the field; or if Ginn will punish our punt coverage.

However, what I do know, is that this time when we visit Columbus we are not searching for holy water to wipe away the regular season's sins.

This time, we are searching for greatness.

Go Blue.

- Anthony

Dr. Schiano, Or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Big East Football.

Rutgers beat Louisville last night, in what I am not hesitant to call, an epic battle between two Big East powers. In a game that saw Louisville come out and start stomping an overwhelmed Rutgers team, only to be matched and then toppled by Ray Rice and Schiano's blitzing defense, we saw two of the fine, aggressive coaches in the country.

Look no further than Greg Schiano and Petrino's first play call of the game. Rutgers, a team with little proven offensive talent outside of Heisman candidate Ray Rice, drops back 5 steps and chucks it deep against Louisville's top cornerback; and their true Freshman wideout Britt burns the guy, only to have the ball be thrown a yard too long. Nonetheless, Rutgers still mounts a decent first drive.

What does Louisville do on it's first play. Brohm throws a deep post laser to his slot receiver, and Louisville marches right through a stunned Rutgers D and crowd. Petrino backs up that with a brilliant fake punt on 4th and 5; and going for and converting every reasonable fourth down opportunity the whole first half.

And for Rutgers - instead of backing down and stopping the big play, the big plays seemed to fuel their pass rush even more in the second half - somehow both swarming Brohm on every passing play and Louisville's backs on running plays. ( I do think this game would have been different with a healthy Michael Bush though).

Also, the final two plays of the game, can't be overlooked. With 13 seconds left in the game, Schiano decides to run a normal kickoff despite having one returned for a touchdown earlier in the game. And know what. . it works! Proving for the 800th time that the squib kick is the dumbest move in football. I repeat, the dumbest move in all of football. The Louisville guy even had a good return, but because they ran a normal kickoff it took 10 seconds to get the ball to the 40 yard line. Then, Schiano, brought a linebacker blitz off the edge to continue harassing Brohm. (When more fearful coaches would have rushed three and waited for the bomb.)

What I learn, more and more from watching all football, is that "aggressive" coaches shouldn't be called "aggressive," but simply good. Aggressive coaches don't worry about conventional wisdom or second-guessing - they simply have a vision of how the game is going to be played and they stick to it. Truly a joy to watch those teams go at it last night. This on the heels of the brawling West Virginia - Louisville fight one week ago. The Big East now owns the two most exciting and well-played college football games of the year. Cheers to the Big East.

A few more quick thoughts:
* That being said, I don't belive that a Rutgers team should get in ahead of a 1 - loss Florida team, if Florida is there. Schiano has done a great job - but not scheduling one decent non-conference foe, when you play in a pretty weak conference should have a consequence. Granted, I don't know how much better the Big Ten is than the Big East this year - but OSU and Michigan both went on the road in their non-conference. Still- Rutgers would get to go to a BCS game and test their mettle against Auburn or Cal - a job well done either way. And they do deserve the same recognition as a 1 - loss Cal, USC, or Texas squad.

*Very excited for this Rutgers - West Virginia game. If you thought that WVA - Louisville game was fast, this will pit the fastest offense in the country against a very lively defense. I like the Mountaineers in this one, because home field advantage has been huge in these games so far - but I'm definitely tuning in.

*A real danger game this week for Michigan. Two really awful games by the Wolverines at home against bad opponents - and this is the season for Indiana. We really will have to bring at least our B - game to put this away. If not, it'll be another tense Saturday in Ann Arbor.

"We Got the Better Belding."

So in titillating and horrifying news, I found out this morning that Saved By the Bell is shown on TBS from 5AM to 7AM, not 6 - 7, like I originally thought, which means anytime my body inexplicably wakes itself up at 5 (see: today), I will no longer make an effort to grab more time to sleep and instead take in more episodes of Saved by the Bell.

A few quick observations: First of all, there is nothing more frightening and thrilling than when a joke from Saved by the Bell actually makes you laugh. For our generation (which by the way is the LAST generation to know what the hell Saved by the Bell is... 21 years old is just about the cutoff), most of the laughs are usually generated by the unintentional comedy of the show - it's corniness and AC Slater's fashion (Quick highlight from an episode, today. AC Slater wears his first normal pair of pants in the series - single-pleated khakis, actually pants that a normal man might wear. HOWEVER, he tops off this with a bright magenta tight tank top firmly tucked in. What a move!). But, I found myself, over the past couple days chuckling at intentional comedy in the show.

Three instances:
Jesse Spano is chewing out the rich nerd (Nerdstrom, who is 5'3") about how he treats his nerd girlfriend Violet (played by Tori Spelling). Nerdstrom then tells Spano, "I know what you need." And gives Jesse a full dip and plants a kiss on her. Jesse comes back to the gang, visibly shaken and Lisa says, "You tell him, girl." Full chuckle from me this morning, mainly due to the actually comedic delivery from Lark Voorhies.

Kelly, Jesse, and Lisa are up for a Teen Fashion Magazine award which wins a free trip to Paris. All three agree not to be mad at who ever is chosen. Kelly Kapowski (of course) is chosen and Lisa Turtle immediately lets out a hearty "With those hips!?!" It actually had a semblance of comedic timing. And yes, it registered 3 laughs on my laugh-o-meter.

After meeting the two Beldings, (when Belding's hot-shot younger brother Rod Belding comes into town) Screech says, "Two Beldings in one building and one is balding!" Wow. Good times.

I will be examining this further to determine A) how much of a loser I am, and B) if Lark Voorhies was the Kevin Garnett of Saved by the Bell - the most talented, versatile player on the court, but just couldn't be the focus of the show. Or, if she was just under-utilized. Lark just brings it every show, outperforms everyone, has to deliver every painfully excruciating rip on Screech, and still catches you by surprise how hot she is. Every show Lark does this - she never missed a season to go film Son in Law, stepped up when Kelly and Jesse left to fill a bigger void, and even came back for the Las Vegas Wedding unchanged when Kelly had put on weight and got a boob job, and Jesse had her hair dyed bleach blonde for Showgirls. We really need to have a Lark Voorhies day to commemorate her. I really think she could have carried a spinoff. I just do. A tear.


The Best Issue of Playboy Ever!!!
Also, as I commented before, yesterday was the episode where Screech and Zack take pictures of the girls swim team and put the pictures in a calendar to drum up interest in the school store that Zack revamped. (Yes, he stole the control of the school store from nerds who were running it.) The girls are initially mad, but are then placated when a photographer from Teen Fashion shows up to put them in a picture spread. This spread lead to one singular and unmistakable thought: Lark Voorhies, Tiffani Theissen, and Elizabeth Berkeley need to be in a Playboy. . . now!!

This is an extremely pressing issue. I mean, after Jesse Spano turned into a total movie skank showing off her snapper in two movies right away (everyone forgets that she gets completely naked in Any Given Sunday aw well), I think we all took it for granted that Kelly and Lisa may follow suit - especially after Kelly went on to play a turbo-evil-skank in Beverly Hills, and a charming slut in Pauly Shore's Son in Law. But, it hasn't happened like that. And it needs to. Not for me so much - just to have the best-selling Playboy of all time.

Why does this have to happen now?

1) Tiffani Amber-Theissen is 32 years old, Lark Voorhies is 32 years old; Elizabeth Berkely is 34 years old. They are all about 5 years from no longer being attractive. How does Playboy not jump on the ball and do the Girls of Bayside magazine photo shoot? I mean, seriously.
2) The people who watched the show are all about 20 - 35 years old right now. If Hef doesn't get this done soon, no one will care. No one will even be able to recognize Kelly Kapowski -- can you imagine living in a world like that.
3) Do you know anybody our age (20 - 30) who wouldn't buy this issue. I mean, it transcends normal smut purchasing. I don't even think I would be embarrassed by this - it would just be a necessary addition to my reading. I mean, the interview! Don't we want to know some of the behind-the-scenes gossip. Did Kelly and Morris ever date off the screen? Did any of them give Screech a taste? Did any of them have a coke addiction? When did AC Slater do ballet? Jealousy? I mean, these are all things that will never be revealed. The whole cast is always so concerned about being typecasted they NEVER talk about what it was like to be on Saved by the Bell. Do any of them still talk to one another?? And the naked on top of that?
4) All their careers are struggling. This could thrust them back into the national spotlight..

All right. Just got a big project at work. Can we start a petition?

- Anthony

What If Sports: Our New Addiction

Some of you may have seen this mentioned in Bill Simmons' articles previously, but if you haven't (or even if you have and didn't bother to check it out) I highly recomend going to the website whatifsports.com Basically it's a website that allows you to draft a team of players from any team on any year and play them against other teams that are similarly drafted in a 162 game simulation. The system uses a salary cap, and you can manage your players' pitch counts, likelihood for pinch running, etc. Anthony and I have done this already this year with limited success (our team is 54-60, well out of playoff contention at this point), although 1990 Ricky Henderson is 2nd in MVP balloting currently, which is nice.

Anyway, we caved before the first season ran out and just drafted another team. Not like any of you actually care, but here it is. (Sidenote: Our team name is "String Bream." Sadly, our idea of "Rollie Fingers Homer Bush" had too many letters to make it.)

Lineup:
LF - Vince Coleman ('85) - .267 BA, .320 OBP, .335 Slg, 110 SBs
SS - Ozzie Smith ('92) - .295 BA, .367 OBP, .342 Slg, 43 SBs
2B - Roberto Alomar ('99) - .323 BA, 24 HRs, .422 OBP, .533 Slg, 37 SBs
CF - Bernie Williams ('97) - .328 BA, 21 HRs, .408 OBP, .544 Slg
1B - Sid Bream ('86) - .268 BA, 16 HRs, .341 OBP, .450 Slg
3B - Eddie Yost ('56) - .231 BA, .412 OBP, .336 Slg
RF - Otis Nixon ('97) - .266 BA, .337 OBP, .318 Slg, 59 SBs
C - Mike Matheny ('05) - . 242 BA, 13 HRs , .295 OBP, .406 Slg

Key Bench Player: Russell Branyan ('06) - .228 BA, 18 HRs, .327 OBP, .498 Slg

Rotation:
Bob Gibson ('68) - 304.2 IP, 1.12 ERA, .184 Opp BA, .85 WHIP
Pete Schneider ('17) - 351 IP, 2.10 ERA, .255 Opp BA, 1.28 WHIP
Phil Niekro ('83) - 201.2 IP, 3.97 ERA, .276 Opp BA, 1.57 WHIP
Rookie to be named later called up from our computer provided AAA team

Key Bullpen Pitchers:
Setup guys: Rollie Fingers ('81) - 116 IP, 1.04 ERA, .198 Opp BA, .87 WHIP
Tom Knowlson ('15) - 107.1 IP, 3.50 ERA, .273 Opp BA, 1.58 WHIP
Closer: Mariano Rivera ('96) - 107.2 IP, 2.09 ERA, .189 Opp BA, .99 WHIP

Our ballpark that we play in is Petco Park, and it's pretty clear why if you look at our team. Not a whole lot of mashers in the lineup. Instead, we went with speed, on-base percentage, and fielding as prerogative for position players. Our pitching staff is pretty loaded, and most of our pitchers have very low HR/9 IP numbers. We're banking on our super fast outfield of Vince Coleman, Otis Nixon, and Bernie Williams shagging down a ton of flyballs in Petco's enormous outfield.

College Football Intensity Index: Week 9

1) Ohio State (39)
1) Michigan (39)
3) Tennessee (34)
4) Florida (32)
5) Auburn (31)
6) Texas (28)
6) Cal (28)
8) USC (26)
9) Louisville (25)
10) Arkansas (23)
11) Notre Dame (16)
12) West Virginia (15)
12) Oklahoma (15)
12) LSU (15)
15) Boston College (14)
16) Wisconsin (12)
17) Rutgers (11)
18) Clemson (06)
19) Texas A & M (03)
20) Boise State (02)

Intensity Index: The getting real intense with a breakdown.

TIER A: Off the Reservation

1) Ohio State
1) Michigan
Analysis: These two hard scrabble teams have yet to be challenged all year and both have killed two top ten teams on the road. I could see Ohio State being ranked higher because they've been demolishing foes lately while Michigan has just been merely handling them. Tough to ignore the best defense in the country, though.

TIER B: SEC Power

3) Tennessee
4) Florida
5) Auburn
Analysis: All three of these teams have huge wins this year, and have yet be crushed by an opponent in their one loss. Tennessee's drubbing of a sprightly Cal team (THE INDEX LOVES BIG NON-CONFERENCE WINS) and just barely losing to Florida puts them on top. It's awful tough to separate Florida and Auburn. But Auburn's loss was a beat down and it came at home. Florida, on the other hand, came up just short on the road in Auburn. These are three great teams playing in a hellacious conference. We'll see what Tennessee is really made of when they play LSU at home next week.


TIER C: Viable Contenders

6) Texas
6) Cal
8) USC
9) Louisville
10) Arkansas
Analysis: All of these teams are having fine seasons, but each one has some warts. Texas got crushed by OSU at home and barely escaped with a couple of wins against Nebraska and Texas Tech. Cal has been playing great ball lately, but got drubbed by Tennessee at the start of the season. USC has looked shoddy in a number of games and just got nipped by a mediocre Oregon State team. They did destroy Arkansas and Nebraska though, two big NONCONFERENCE wins. Louisville has a great D, and they would be higher if they didn't almost give one away on the road against Cincinnati. And Arkansas killed Auburn but has beaten zero quality opponents otherwise. And they did get crushed by USC.

TIER D: I shoulda been a contender

11) Notre Dame
12) West Virginia
12) Oklahoma
12) LSU
15) Boston College
16) Wisconsin
17) Rutgers
Analysis: The Irish sure started off strong with wins over Georgia Tech and Penn State (two teams just outside of the index). But their competition since then has been laughable. They should have lost to UCLA (a bad team) and Michigan State (one of the country's worst). All their other wins have been jokes. West Virginia has been dominating crappy teams; somewhat impressive that they demolished Maryland, though. Oklahoma should only have one loss, and that loss they got handled by Texas - just had a decent win at Missouri - could be for real. LSU has NO good wins. But, they did play two great SEC teams pretty tight in their loses. Boston College has beat Clemson, Florida State, and on the road against Virginia Tech. Not a bad trio of wins - but shouldn't have let NC State hang around to beat them. Wisconsin hasn't beat a good team and struggled last week against a shit Illinois team. Rutgers is basically the same story as West Virginia, but they didn't attempt to play ANY decent out of conference team, and they haven't been as dominant as Louisville or West Virginia agains the mediocre opposition.

TIER E: A Little Feisty
18)Clemson
19) Texas A & M
20) Boise State
Analysis: Clemson looked awful frisky pouncing on Georgia Tech two weeks ago. And, honestly, losing to Boston College and Virginia Tech on the road are forgivable sins. Texas A & M has been playing good ball lately. And, Boise State has done nothing to really deserve being intense, except for beat the holy hell out of Oregon State, who turned around and beat USC. So, finally, they have something that comes close to approaching a quality win, and they are undefeated.

Bars, Beers, and Baseball:

I am not yet in a rational enough to speak about the Cardinals winning the World Series.

Weaver spinning through the Mets and Tigers lineups was damned near inspiring to watch. Weaver hadn't thrown that well since his Tigers days.

A lot has been made of the 83 win Cards team during the regular season. Worst World Series team ever bullshit. First of all, it turns out when you actually win the World Series, you couldn't give two shits if they were the best World Series team of all time or the worst. The goal's just to win the fuckin' thing.

Also, here's what killed the team during the regular season: 1) Starting Mark Mulder, 2) starting Jason Marquis, 3) Injuries to Rolen, Edmonds, and Eckstein. 4) Isringhausen and Looper as our top two bullpen guys.
Luckily, Marquis was left off the postseason roster, Reyes was allowed to pitch, and Rolen, Edmonds, and Eckstein got healthy. It's no murderers row to be sure, but the Cardinals when healthy have:
1) The best player in baseball: Albert Pujols
2) The best third baseman in baseball: Scott Rolen
3) The best pitcher not named Santana or Halladay: Chris Carpenter
4) The best defensive catcher in baseball: Yadier Molina
5) A top 5 Centerfielder: Jim Edmonds.
6) A young closer who ranks right up there with K-Rod and Jenks.

Final point. The MVP of the World Series was Yadier Molina. He was the best player on the Cards throughout the playoffs offensively and defensively and handling the staff.

There will be a much longer post about this later.


Beer:
Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale is in my fridge right now. It's not a bad beer, but certainly fits into the Blue Moon style of delicate flavors and maybe a little too "drinkable" for my liking. Sometimes I just don't get quite enough complexity of flavor in any of the Blue Moon products. The pumpkin flavor isn't overwhelming like some other pumpkin ales, and they go easy on the cinnamon and nutmeg flavors that can really overpower a lot of pumpkin beers. While it is maybe not the most interesting beer in the world, there is nothing particularly wrong with this one. Subtle pumpkin and easy to drink - a real treat at the end of a day.

Bar:

Checked out a spot on Clark Street in Chicago last night called "The Ivy." I had always been hesitant to go in it because there is a god-awful bar called "The Red Ivy," right around there. (Honestly, do not go in the Red Ivy. It's like drinking beer in a damn Olive Garden only the High Lifes are $5. You just can't have a worse time anywhere.) And also, I had always thought "The Ivy" sounded like a gay bar. But now that I think about it, the ivy is referencing Wrigley Field's ivy. But why the fuck is a bar called "The Red Ivy"? That sounds like a terribly gay bar. But, turns out neither are gay bars, and while the Red Ivy sucks; The Ivy is awesome. A good dive bar type of place with a juke box and plenty of plasma screen TVs. I was there last night, which happens to be Euchre wednesdays and .25 cent wing night. Pitchers of Coors Light were only 7 bucks, too. Good times were had by all. Extra points for having the brand new Golden Tee 2007 which is amazing.