October is Upon Us

What a great sports weekend! What a great sports month! I love October, not quite as much as March, but close. October brings us Major League Baseball playoffs, conference play gets into full swing in college football and the NFL has made it to the second quarter of the season. This weekend is a great example and just a small sample of what this month has to offer. Oh, by the way, this year we get the Ryder Cup too!

Yesterday started the month; it also started the last weekend of the MLB regular season. Today kicks off the first of five football weekends in the month of October. Let’s take a closer look at what exactly this weekend has to offer to sports fans everywhere.

The Ryder Cup
24 of the best golfers in the world playing against each other for 3 straight days. Golf, a game normally played by individuals, being played in a team format. It brings out some of the best shot-makers in the world doing just that. What is more exciting when watching golf than to see guys take dead aim at the stick and playing ultra aggressive? That is what you get at the Ryder Cup. You get the best players in the world making some huge risk/reward shots because if they miss, they have a teammate for once who can make the shot if they miss. Unfortunately, since the Cup this year is being played in Wales, you need to be awake at 3am (as I am right now as I type this) to watch when it starts.

College Football
5 games featuring top 25 teams playing each other.

The headliner? Alabama v Florida. The winner of this game the past 2 years went on to win the national championship. Also today, another top 10 showdown, Stanford @ Oregon. This is a game that could let a PAC-10 jump right into the thick of the national championship debate. How about the Red River Rivalry? When was the last time this game was the 3rd biggest game of the weekend? Texas-Oklahoma, the stadium split down the middle at the 50, one half red, the other burnt orange.

The last two match-ups are Big Ten match-ups. Michigan State hosting Wisconsin and Penn State @ Iowa. Now we all know that there is almost no such thing as a big time Big Ten match-up, but they are all in the top 25 and both games are somewhat intriguing. In the Michigan State-Wisconsin game, we get to find out which Big Ten team will be undefeated and overrated all the way into November. The loser will still be ranked because, well, they play in the Big Ten, and there is a clause in the rankings that says at least 5 Big Ten teams must be ranked at all times. In the Penn State-Iowa game, you get to watch the Fighting JoePa’s lose to Iowa again. What’s not to love about that? Penn State is 1-7 vs Iowa in their last 8 games, and who could forget that barnburner in 2004 which the Hawkeyes won 6-4?

NFL
Week 4 of the season and the schedule is loaded with great match-ups. Despite it being the first week of bye weeks with 4 teams not playing, there is no shortage of marquee games on the slate. Maybe the best game of the week will also be the first one completed. At 1:00, the 3-0 Steelers take on the 2-1 Ravens for control of the AFC North. Anyone who has seen these teams play in the past knows that there is no love lost between these teams. From Joey Porter going onto the Ravens bus calling out Ray Lewis after a game, to the Ravens bitching and whining about the referees in the Santonio goal line touchdown catch. This game has become the biggest and best rivalry in the league. This will be a slugfest, with two hard-nosed and rugged defenses. First team to blink loses. And that is only the first game!

At 4:00, you have the battle for the brotherly love. Vick vs McNabb. Will they boo McNabb or not? Will Vick beating McNabb in Philly Sunday crush the legacy Donovan had in the city? If McNabb and the Skins pull the upset, will Andy Reid suddenly be on the hot seat? This game, although probably not a great game, does have many great storylines attached to it. I personally want McNabb to stick it to the Eagles with a 400+ yard, 4 TD game. Do I think that will happen? Hell no! McNabb has as many offensive weapons in Washington as Obama has fulfilled promises; ZERO!

To cap off the weekend, we head to South Beach Monday night for the Pats and the Fins. This doesn’t seem like much of a showdown, but in recent years, the Dolphins have been a huge pain in the side of Tom Brady and Co. With the Jets already beating both teams, this game could be huge in a fight to catch New York. Despite the Patriots being the most successful team this past decade and the Dolphins being the epitome of average, the Patriots have won exactly ONE more game than the Dolphins in this series since 2000.

MLB
By the time the Monday Night game concludes, we will know exactly who is playing in this season's Major League Baseball playoffs. Coming into the last weekend of play, there are still 2 open spots to be claimed: The NL West and NL Wild Card. The west will be won in San Francisco this weekend or in San Diego on Monday. Those two teams play today and tomorrow in San Fran, with the Giants needing just one win to clinch the west. If the Padres were to sweep the series, the two teams would head about 400 miles south to play on Monday in a winner-take-all one-game playoff. The loser does have a chance of making the playoffs the wild card team if the Braves can’t beat the Phillies ONE TIME this weekend. In the AL, the Yankees and Rays are battling for the AL East crown. However whichever team loses will be the wild card team from the AL. Also this last weekend, the Twins are in discussion for home field advantage. Currently the Yankees have a slight lead over both the Rays and Twins in that regard.

There you have it - a great weekend schedule, leading to a great month of sports! Enjoy! I know I will!

WHAT IS THIS????

SPORT OR NOT A SPORT, THAT IS THE QUESTION

I am here to end all debates on what exactly it is you are watching on ESPN.

I have had this discussion many times with many people over the years, most recently my cousin Pete, and that pushed me to document it in writing so we never again have to ask the question, “Is this really a sport?”

Although as I mentioned I have had this discussion numerous times in the past, it all dates back to about 10-12 years ago at my buddy Jeff’s house. Not only did we discuss the whole sport/not a sport thing, but we also came up with guidelines for future debates (Yes, this is what the kids that did not drink or go to parties in high school did on Friday nights). Some of these guidelines raise some questions, but as of today they are in writing and are set in stone as the official regulations of whether it is or is not a sport.

RULE #1:

IF THE WINNER IS DETERMINED BY JUDGES IT IS NOT A SPORT

Basically what it is saying is that if it takes someone’s personal opinion to decide the outcome of the event it is not a sport. Sports use scoreboards. They keep a running tally of what you or your team has earned or accomplished. And at the end of the day you can look up at that scoreboard and it tells the story for you. It is clear as day, the winner and the loser. This always raises some debate because it eliminates a lot of things most would consider a sport, like Gymnastics, Diving and Boxing; however these are not sports, they are competitions. Yes I understand that they use scoreboards in these competitions, but so did Billy Madison when he challenged Eric to an academic decathlon. In these other competitions they compete to the best of their ability but after they are done, they wait for someone to decide who the winner is. I do not take away from the skills that these athletes have (yes I still consider these participants to be athletes, however that is not the case all the time as we continue), but I do not consider it a sport if a third-party member has to decide the outcome. The only tough part with this one is the fighting events, such as boxing or MMA. In some cases these fights are clearly decided in the ring and the judges have nothing to say with the outcome, however there are judges present and their sole responsibility is to determine the winner if it deems necessary, therefore it is not a sport.

SOME OF THE WANT-TO-BE SPORTS THIS ELIMINATES:

Boxing, Diving, most X-GAMES events, Gymnastics, MMA, Figure Skating, Ball Room Dancing (how is that an Olympic sport??) Moguls Skiing, and Synchronized Swimming

RULE #2:

IF THE ATHLETE/PARTICIPANT INVOLVED IS NOT PROVIDING ALL THE POWER AND ENERGY NEEDED IT IS NOT A SPORT

Sorry Dale Jr., Tony, JJ and all the other NASCAR drivers, sitting in a car pushing a gas pedal making right turns for four straight hours doesn’t make you an athlete or what you do a sport. This also eliminates horse racing and aerial racing (sorry Pete). If you are sitting down controlling something that is providing the power for you, what you’re doing is not a sport. I would classify this as a contest. Now, the horses involved, they are athletes. The jockeys involved, who are just going along for the ride, not so much. Again, I do not want to take away from the skill it takes to ride a horse, drive a car or fly a plane, but when you are racing these things yet you are not the sole provider of the power needed to win the race, it is not a sport. Man versus horse, SPORT. Horse versus horse, SPORT. Man sitting on top of horse racing another man who is sitting on top of another horse, NOT A SPORT!

SOME OF THE WANT-TO-BE SPORTS THIS ELIMINATES:

Auto-Racing, Boat Racing, Plane Racing, Horse Racing

RULE #3:

IF YOU CAN CONTINUE TO COMPETE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL NO MATTER YOUR AGE IT IS NOT A SPORT

Sorry Gramps, we are not trying to offend anyone at the AARP but facts are facts. When you age you are going to lose a step, or a little hand-eye coordination, or some mobility, these are necessities for most sports so this is a good way to figure out what is and what is not a sport. Take for instance this past Sunday on ESPN they had Table Tennis on. It was the finals of some big event. On one side of the table there was a 20-something year old and on the other, there was this guy.

Wayne Obertone. Mr. Obertone is 73 years old. I would like to thank Jeremiah for letting me know this was on TV all be it for just the last five minutes. The entertainment value that was provided watching this was through the roof. However, it still does not make it a sport. Some people would argue that golf would be eliminated by this rule, however it is not. Although you tend to see guys that look a lot like Wayne on the courses every day getting their senior rates, the quality of their play has diminished over the years. That is why they have the Senior Tour and the Champions Tour, because those guys can no longer compete with the youngsters.

SOME OF THE WANT-TO-BE SPORTS THIS ELIMINATES:

Table Tennis, Curling

RULE #4:

IF YOU CAN PREFORM THIS SKILL IN A BAR LIKE SETTING IT IS NOT A SPORT

It is proven that alcohol impairs judgment and all basic motor skills, so do you really think that a bar like setting brings out the best in athletes? Yes, playing pool and throwing darts while have a couple drinks is fun, but that does not make it a sports. Bowling is a tough one for me here, because it is clearly set in a drinker-friendly atmosphere however it is not directly in a bar. I guess the deal breaker for me on bowling is that I have never seen a bowling alley without some sort of bar/restaurant/place to obtain alcohol. In that case bowling is out too.

SOME OF THE WANT-TO-BE SPORTS THIS ELIMINATES:

Billards, Darts, Bowling, Cornhole (Baggio, Bag Toss)

So there you have it, the 4 basic rules of sports. Since I am the creator of these rules I do reserve the right to change/add to/tweak any of them when I feel it is necessary.