SCOTT JACOBS

Baseball has 162 games, so what’s one game really?  How about a lot.

Especially if you’re the Detroit Tigers.  Your season was over.  Your disappointing, incredibly uninspired season was over.  You were ready to go into hibernation, and ponder what the heck happened to the offensive juggernaut that was supposed to run the AL like a Russian mafia.  But that never came to fruition, and you lost 87 games, stunningly finishing in the AL Central basement, behind the likes of the Kansas City Royals!

But you didn’t officially finish dead last.  Not yet at least.  Because a game assumedly cancelled by rain a few weeks back is now the separating factor between the two best teams in your division: the White Sox and Twins.  Minnesota is a half ahead of the Pale Hose, and you, Detroit, have to go to U.S. Cellular to play one more game, even though the season is already over.  This isn’t a playoff game.  It’s a makeup game.

And you, the Tigers, are forced to play it.

Sure, love of the game this, and let’s spoil their chances that, are supposed to be Detroit’s motivation, but I’d be pissed if I was the Tigers.  After a horrible season, where World Series dreams turned to age and injury nightmares Detroit probably just wants to start their offseason already, and forget that this year ever happened.  But because of a goofy situation, the Tigers are all that stands between the White Sox, and a one game playoff.

Yes, this could be the start of a two game in two days ordeal for the White Sox who know exactly what they have to do: win both.  Think of it as a single elimination tournament in the College World Series, only one team knows they have no chance to advance no matter what they do.

So yeah, Detroit can spoil Chicago’s season, and any possibilities of a Chicago-Chicago Fall Classic.  If they lose, the White Sox play Minnesota in a one game playoff Tuesday.

But what if it rained?  So much so that they couldn’t play the game?  Would that push back everything?  How would that work?

I always pondered how something like that works.  What if the Sox win today, but the weather was horrible tomorrow and they couldn’t play.  Would they play Wednesday before starting the ALDS in Tampa on Thursday?  That would hardly seem fair.

And then there’s this: imagine being a free agent on Detroit. Your season is over.  You’re seeking a nice payday in the offseason.  An injury or any magnitude would be devastating, especially in a game that has no implications whatsoever for you.  How do you play the game?  Do you not try as hard?  Do you play it like an All Star game, by giving half effort?

Or do you go all out and treat it like your World Series?

It’s an intriguing question.  Almost as intriguing as the crazy scenario before us.  If the game ever got rained today, could their potentially be a doubleheader played tommorrow against two different teams?

There is no shortage of crazy possibilities here.  Now we get to wait and see how it all plays out.

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PAT SUMMIT
Head Coach Pat Summit and her Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team defeated Stanford University last Tuesday night 64-48 to win the women’s NCAA Championship game for the second consecutive season. Summit, 55, a 7-time NCAA Coach of the Year, won her 8th championship as the Lady Vols leader and she closed to within 2 crowns of tying legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden for the most all-time among college coaches. Nevertheless, despite her accolades, lack of visible tattoos and race, I bet Don Imus would still consider her a “nappy-headed ho.”

JOHN CALIPARI
Memphis Head Coach John Calipari will rue his decision to not utilize his final timeout in last week’s NCAA Men’s Championship game until the day that he meets his maker. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

LEBRON JAMES
Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics and Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets were all tremendous this season and the entire trio deserves credit for the enormous impact that they had on their respective teams in the 2007/2008 campaign. Nevertheless, as Bill Parcells is known to say, “the numbers don’t lie.” Cleveland Cavaliers superstar Lebron James, 23, recorded statistics this year that were otherworldly (30.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists) and if he doesn’t win the award it’s an injustice to both himself and to the league. Without King James, the Cavaliers would have been hard-pressed to win more than 10 games this season and I for one believe that they could have lost to Michael J Fox’s squad in Teen Wolf.

KOBE BRYANT
Still, when sentimentality and politics play their roles. look for Bryant to win his first lifetime achievement award (MVP) when the votes are collected.

KYLE FARNSWORTH
When having their name called on the public address system at Yankee Stadium, every Bomber is introduced with their chosen music blaring in the background. For example, legendary closer Mariano Rivera exits the bullpen with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” clamoring and Big Apple favorite Paul O’Neill greeted the Bronx faithful with the Who’s “Baba O’Reilly” resounding throughout the stadium. With that in mind, I think reliever Kyle Farnsworth’s ideal anthem would be Pink Floyd’s “Goodbye Cruel World.” Unfortunately, I do not believe that Farnsworth needs to be kept astray from sharp objects. But, if Manager Joe Girardi continues to allow him to cripple the Yankees with his unseemly debacles late in games, I may put myself at personal risk.

CHIEN-MING WANG
Yankees ACE Chien-Ming Wang was desecrated last year by critics for his putrid performances against the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS (0-2, 19.06 ERA). Those same critics who bashed Wang, 28, conveniently dismiss the fact that he has won more games (49-18, 3.64 ERA) since the middle of the 2005 season than any other starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Wang absolutely was subpar at a very inopportune time for himself and the Yankees. But, Wang’s futility was not an ongoing A-Rod-like post-season demise. Wang simply had two bad outings. The Taiwanese import is one the best pitchers in the sport and, with the possible exception of Mets lefty Johan Santana, there is nobody I’d trust more to take the mound in October.

JIMMY LEYLAND
Despite their anemic 2-11 start, I still predict that Detroit Tigers Manager Jimmy Leyland will enjoy many a victory smoke when it’s all said and complete.

ERIC CARTMAN AND BELICHICK
Last week on an episode of South Park, the portly, foul-mouthed caricature Eric Cartman revealed the true reason that the heavily-favored New England Patriots faltered against the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.

“Just before the last Super Bowl, Bill Belichick gathered his football players and said let’s win this one for real… Just this one time.. Let’s not cheat. You know what happened? They lost. Even if you feel all eyes are on you, you can’t give up on cheating!” — 4.9.08, Cartman, South Park.

Any way you portray it, South Park’s resident fat-boy provided some of the great investigative journalism our nation has seen since Woodward and Bernstein uncovered Watergate with the help of the enigmatic “Deep-Throat.” Now, nearly 3-months-later, the outcome of the game makes entire sense.

Agree or disagree with my vantages, I hope I was able to entertain. Thanks for your readership.

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