SCOTT JACOBS

It was a good game at a rather subdued Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.  One would argue that the Jaguars thought their might be more on the line going into this one, but with just a 4-10 record and having already been eliminated from the playoffs, there was no AFC South title at stake.  There was no playoff spot.  Not for the Jags at least.

But look on the other side and therein lies the red hot Indianapolis Colts.  They’ve won eight in a row after a very surprising 3-4 start.  The Colts have had a topsy turvy season by their standards, and some of their wins have been games they may not have deserved, so it was fitting that to beat the Jaguars they had to overcome an early 14-0 deficit as well as a 17-7 deficit, en route to a 31-24 win.

And it was the Colts defense, not their offense, that helped finish off the Jags.  Tied at 24 in the fourth David Garrard was picked off by Keiwan Ratliff who took it 35 yards to the house.  And just like that, the Colts were in the lead.  But holding on would not be easy, as Jacksonville drove the ball all the way to the Colts eight, after starting at their own 10.  But poor clock management, and a poor overthrow by David Garrard left the Jags with just 12 seconds, down by a score.

The Jags had no timeouts, and wouldn’t you know it, David Garrard (like Jacksonville’s Super Bowl dreams coming into this season) was sacked by Dwight Freeney and the Jaguars were unable to get off another play.  And with the win, the Colts become just the second team in NFL history to win 11+ games six consecutive seasons.  That is impressive!

So now, the Colts are in.  They join the Titans and the Steelers as the three teams who’ve already clinched an AFC playoff spot.

And boy is Peyton Manning something.  Tonight he went 29-34, for 364 yards and three touchdowns, and he just did it methodically.  He is one of those guys that you never expect to watch lose.  Because when he is on, he is in a league of his own.  And the MVP love is starting to come his way, which I think is deserved.  It had been a while since the Colts had such a difficult year (which is comical considering they now have 11 wins again), but if you look at the way they’ve struggled in certain situations and blotches of the season, it is very impressive to see the Colts back in the playoffs.

As for the Jaguars?

Well, I think one comment on an article I did earlier in the year summed it up best:

“San Diego is in a heated battle with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the NFL’s biggest disappointment of the season.”

The only difference right now?  The Chargers still are in contention for a division title and they have six wins.  The Jags, a year after winning 11, still have just four. It’s cliche I know: but what a difference a year makes.

SCOTT JACOBS

The only thing more frustrating then the start of these 2008 MLB playoffs is the bombardment of annoying Frank TV ads that we the sports fan have to suffer through every other commercial. O yeah, there’s also been the stunningly boring play taking place on the field.  This post-season appeared to set up as the most wide open field in some time.  Instead, a few days in, we’re almost already out of the first round and into the league championship series.  Why?  Because every series is 2-0.  Every single one!  Last year we had three sweeps (and one four game series), and that was as anti-climatic as we’d seen in some time.  This year, we could be looking at a foursome of sweeps.  Get out the brooms, no one’s safe.

Not the Brewers, who have proven to be a one man wrecking machine that now just looks broken, after their ace was pummeled in game two.

Not the Cubs, who are once again on the verge of another disheartening playoff exit, just moments into what looked like “the year.”

Not the White Sox, who have given the South Side little to cheer about.  Sure, they’ve taken the lead early, but they couldn’t hold on, and a pair of two run leads in successive games has gone all for not.  After the week they had, having to play two games after the season had ended, it’s excusable for them to be on the verge of being swept, but the Angels?

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, might as well be renamed the “Who cares what they’re named, the Red Sox own them.”  Seriously, the Red Sox have taken the Angels, who won 100 games, and looked like clear cut favorites to win another world championship, and they’ve just knocked them down every time the Angels look like they’re trying to get up. It’s incredible.  Make it eleven consecutive post-season wins for Boston over LA, a new major league record.

The Angels had eleven hits, and one was an extra base hit.  The Halos scratched and clawed back from a 5-2 deficit early on, but once again, like the Spurs owning the Suns, Boston put away what is no longer even the best team in Southern California.  That distinction right now would go to the Dodgers.

That series looked like it would be the best of these four (and it has been, for whatever that’s worth), and at least a pair of these series looked like good bets to go at least four.  But that looks unlikely now.

With the Brewers reeling, and their offense held at bay, Philadelphia looks like they’ll get the knockout blow Saturday.  Milwaukee’s lack of hitting has cost them dearly, and now that C.C. Sabathia is off the list, the Phils can feel it.

The Dodgers will look to finish off the shell-shocked Cubs Saturday when the series shifts to Los Angeles.  If the Cubs have anything going for them, it’s that the Angels couldn’t win in LA, so maybe the same will go for the Dodgers.  But not likely.  In fact, look for the Dodgers to complete the sweep tomorrow, officially putting Cubs fans out of their misery for the umpteenth time.

The Rays will look for the sweep at U.S. Cellular, and boy has that bullpen been impressive.  Those young kids over in Tampa Bay have proven to be real gamers, and you can’t help but think a Red Sox-Rays ALCS would be absolutely riveting theater. Not quite Yanks-Sox, but certainly a compelling matchup nonethless.

So that’s where we stand.  Tonight’s Red Sox-Angels game was a thriller, but Boston just oozes with confidence.  They may no longer have Manny, but the defending champs are still incredibly clutch.  And how about Jason Bay, homering in his first two post-season games.  Not a bad pickup, was Bay, who looks incredibly comfortable in what looked like a tough role to fill.

So that’s the story this post-season.  Both teams in the mega Manny swap look well on their way. All they have to do is win one game at home, and they’re golden.

The Brewers and White Sox get to go home, but neither one of their chances looks all that great.

I’m not sure that this has ever happened, but could we be looking at FOUR sweeps in one round?

It certainly looks like a realistic possibility.

Maybe it’s covers like this:

If the Cubs can’t win once in 100 years, why does SI always pick them to win it, and why do they have queer SI covers made of them every year with Japanese writing saying that they are going to win it?

We know they are never going to win it again, but the mainstream media always tells us they will, and the rest of this post is a compilation of media love given to the Cubs that the Cubs never returned:

Take a good look, Cubs fans. Because it’s going to be your last. (Until next spring’s SI baseball preview, that is.)

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SCOTT JACOBS 

The Rays start their series with the White Sox today, marking the first playoff series ever in the team’s short, albeit mostly pathetic history.  But hey: ditch the Devil, get the rookie, save the cheerleader… o wait, no that’s not what I was meaning to get at.  Ya know what, let’s just move onto the interview.

Read the July 3rd interview here.

Juiced Sports: Tampa Bay Rays: AL East Champions.  Has it sunk in yet that the team that couldn’t get out of its own way for a decade just won the most prolific division in baseball?

R.J. Anderson: Not yet. From previous championship experiences in this town I never really grasp the whole “Oh wow we’re league champs” concept until, um, we’re not league champs anymore.

JSB: What was it like as a Rays blogger, to watch the tight White Sox-Twins game yesterday, knowing that Tampa Bay was resting comfortably at home, awaiting the winner?

RJ: As a fan I just wanted a good game, as a writer who had a preview do, I wanted someone to take a lead.

JSB: Rays fans have waited 10 years for this, and now it’s here.  What’s the atmosphere in the Tampa area right now?  Is it all Rays all the time?

RJ: You see more gear than ever. I never knew my neighbors were Rays fans until yesterday.

JSB: How does this Rays team match-up with the South Siders?  Would they have been better off getting the Twins?

RJ: I think the White Sox are slightly better than the Twins, but not enough to change my outlook. The Rays have the better defense, nearly equal pitching staffs, and a slightly worse offense.

JSB: What is the key to this series for the Rays? Is their inexperience a blessing or a curse?

RJ: Three keys: limiting homeruns, taking advantage of the White Sox free-swingers, and playing matchups; bringing in David Price or J.P. Howell to face Jim Thome instead of Dan Wheeler for instance. I don’t really buy into the experience talk. Just because you’ve been there doesn’t mean you will or have succeeded.

JSB: The Cubs have waited 99 years and counting for a championship, Rays fans are at year 10.  Is there a legitimate hunger for a championship or are people just happy that the Rays are here?

RJ: You aren’t a baseball fan if you don’t have a hunger for the World Series title. Being happy about the accomplishments and being hungry aren’t exclusives.

JSB: How big of a home-field advantage will the Trop offer Tampa Bay in their first playoff series?

RJ: Probably as big as you can get. The roof will be rocking.

JSB: When the Rays draw 30,000 or more they win, and they win some more.  You guys are going to sell out the place right?

RJ: Oh come on, of course the games are sold out and were pretty quickly.

I don’t really buy into the experience talk. Just because you’ve been there doesn’t mean you will or have succeeded.

JSB: Is there a sense that this is a team of destiny?  Or is it more a wait and see approach?

RJ: It’s a team of now. If they do the unthinkable I’m sure all the devil jokes will reappear.

JSB: Can this Rays team win the American League? 

RJ: Yes.

JSB: Will they?

RJ: Yes.

JSB: I wrote today that Scott Kazmir and James Shields will be the best 1-2 punch in this post-season.  Are they good enough to lead the Rays to a world championship?

RJ: Certainly, although I’m not sure they’re the best duo in the league this season.

JSB: What kind of effect will Carl Crawford have on this series?  Is his status doom or boom for the Rays, or is he just another piece for this balanced Rays team?

His defensive value cannot be understated. Offensively he’s been weaker than normal, but anytime you can re-add the best defensive Left Fielder in the game it’s usually not a bad thing.

JSB: Joe Maddon is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.  Nervous?

RJ: No way. Joe Maddon is too zen for jinxes or curses.

JSB: Tampa Bay is in the playoffs.  The Yankees are not.  For years the Yanks were the only show in Tampa (they play their Spring training there).  Is this officially a Tampa Bay Rays town?

RJ: I think it’s close to becoming that. Amazing how many people “lost” their Yankees gear after one down season.

JSB: Okay, fill in the blank.  When it’s all said and done the Rays will have ____________?

RJ: 108 wins total.

SCOTT JACOBS

Call it what you will, but there’s not a doubt in the world that golden liquids will be spraying all the way into the wee hours of the morning in the land of the cheese.  Whether it’s Brewers fans peeing their pants, or Brewers players spraying champagne and beer everywhere, Milwaukee is into the post-season for the first time since 1982.  Their 3-1 win, coupled with New York’s sad 4-2 loss (officially putting the recking ball on Shea) today sent Wisconsin into a frenzy.  It was the only type of win that could put Aaron Rodgers’ injury on the backburner, along with Brett Favre’s six touchdown day.  Milwaukee watched the only New York team it truly needed to lose, lose.

The Brewers, notorious losers for decades, had made the playoffs twice since 1970.  That’s 38 seasons.  Lucky number 39 was what the Brewers needed to tack  one more to that very un-humbling list.  But, the team that was brought to Milwaukee by primary owner Bud Selig (now MLB commissioner) is back.  Back in the playoffs.

That’s three times in 39 seasons.  That’s once every 13 years. That’s a seven percent success rate.

But hey, how many teams (not players, not coaches) can say that they’ve made the playoffs in both Leagues?  Not many.  Milwaukee can lay claim to that.

Besides, they haven’t had a heck of a lot to celebrate as Brewers fans.  Milwaukee’s first playoff berth (1981) came in a year where a players strike wiped out a portion of the year.  Yes, the Brewers did what they had to do, but that’s historically not all that amazing.  Especially in a season as long as baseball.

And then there was 1982.  The greatest year to date, in the history of the Brewers.  Robin Yount was AL MVP that year, the team belted out 216 dingers, and their pitcher Pete Vulkovich won the CY Young.  The Brewers came back from an 0-2 deficit to win the final three games and secure their place in the World Series, where they would fall in seven games to St. Louis.

So that’s where we stand.  The Brewers are trying to overcome the demons of 1982.  Was it a bad beer keg that cursed the team?  Or was it bad cheese?  No one knows, but this Brewers team will have to overcome the odds without Ben Sheets, who is done for the year.

C.C. Sabathia has been brilliant, but he can’t do it all.  The Brewers will need everyone to advance.

And if they do, could a Brewers-Cubs NLCS possibility loom?  It seems only fitting that the team that can’t win a World Series plays the team that hasn’t won one in  99 years and counting.

But first things first: the Phillies.  Philadelphia was swept out last year by red hot Colorado after winning the NL East.  This year, that probably won’t happen again.

But then again, who thought the Mets would collapse again?