Halloween is here… which means the World Series is wrapping up. The guys discuss what has been an incredible 2017 World Series, especially Game 5, and what has been a great post season in general. They dive in to the Joe Girardi managerial departure and why everyone is moving towards these analytical managers.
The first College Football Ranking is out and there’s a big surprise at the Top. No seriously, it’s not Alabama. PJ educates TM (the D3er) on how the CFP rankings and committee work, then give him homework. Penn State sucks and deserve every bit of hatred spewed their way.
Finally, the guys recap what was the craziest NFL Trade Deadline in recent memory and shit all over Week 8, because it sucked. More discussion about what exactly is the problem with the NFL product this year, and whether its watchable.
Keep an eye out for the Binge Sportscast on a weekly basis through the NFL season!
It seems like way too much has happened in baseball since the last SportsCast, but the guys do their best to recap the ALCS, what went wrong for the Yankees, and whether Joe Girardi will return. A lot of managers have been let go and replaced in the last week… and oh, there’s also this little thing called the WORLD SERIES that started.
College football sucks. Or at least PJ’s team does.
Finally, we recap Week 7 in the NFL which started with possibly the best game of the year (Raiders – Chiefs), how Marshawn Lynch is a lunatic, and everything else that’s transpired over the last week. Including what might be the official end of the Jay Cutler meter. We also once again tackle the question of who’s the best team in the NFL?
Keep an eye out for the Binge Sportscast on a weekly basis through the NFL season!
It’s been a while, and for that I apologize, but welcome back to Binge Media Sports. I won’t keep you long on this beautiful Saturday morning (it is here anyway), but with the 2014 MLB regular season coming to an end, I just wanted to touch on a few things before I move on with my day. There are baseball stories all over the place right now with teams still fighting for playoff spots and positions and I’ll get to some of that in a minute, but I’ll start with my first goodbye of the day.
GOODBYE TO DEREK JETER
Let me just start by saying that I’m not a Yankee guy at all and for years, Derek Jeter annoyed the hell out of me for no particular reason. Maybe it was all the winning or all the beautiful women or the Brett Favre thing where I hate him only because he doesn’t play for my team, but it really did take me a long time to really see what this guy means to baseball.
In an era that’s been tainted by steroids and egos and assholes (here’s looking at you A-Rod), Jeter has been the face of the game’s biggest franchise for twenty years, and he’s done it with class and style. I know baseball is the biggest numbers game there is, and he’s got stats to back up a Hall of Fame career. Hell, you can just look at 3,463 hits and be impressed. He was never the biggest homerun hitter (260 entering the weekend), but with a career average of .309 and where he hit in the lineup, he wasn’t supposed to be. The greatness of Jeter, however, can’t be defined in only numbers. Believe me, the extra 200 hits in the postseason alone doesn’t hurt, but it was his clutch play that allowed the Yankees to be…well, the Yankees. In a minute, I’ll put up a highlight package and I want you to notice how many of these came in the playoffs. There’s one play in particular that I’ll always remember and it’s on the reel. It was a postseason game against Oakland and the rightfielder had missed both cutoff men on a throw to the plate. Mind you, Jeter was a shortstop so he had no reason to be where he was as the throw was coming in, but he knew the throw wouldn’t make it in time, so he sprinted to the other side of the field and flipped the ball to Posada to nail the less talented Giambi at the plate. Seriously, who does that? Derek Jeter does. From a Yankee hater……thank you Derek. You’re what baseball is supposed to be. Why couldn’t you be a Cub though?
HELLO TO THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Welcome back to the playoffs, KC. After almost three decades away, the Kansas City Royals are back in the playoffs for the first time since winning it all in 1985. I really don’t have much to say, but as a guy who’s always liked the Royals for some reason, kudos to you.
GOODBYE TO PAUL KONERKO
Unfortunately lost in the hoopla of Jetermania is Paul Konerko, the longtime captain of the Chicago White Sox, who will also retire after this weekend’s series with the Royals. After short stints in LA and Cincinatti, Konerko was traded to the South Side in late 1998 and has been a staple ever since. Simply put, he was a player that just did it the right way. He was the ALCS MVP in 2005 on the way to the White Sox putting the Black Sox scandal behind them after more than eight decades and winning the World Series.
After Frank Thomas left, Konerko became the face of the franchise and for sixteen years has been one of the most respected players in all of baseball. And this is coming from a Cubs fan. I despise the White Sox, but Konerko is a guy that you just can’t help but give that respect to. He turned down lucrative offers over the years from LA and Baltimore to remain in Chicago, which is always nice to hear. The guy isn’t even officially done yet, but there are already plans in place to retire his No. 14 and a statue will also be placed inside whatever the Sox are calling that stadium these days. With a career .279 average, 439 homeruns, and 1412 runs batted in, Paul Konerko will eventually get some looks for the Hall of Fame and deservedly so. Did you know all of that? Probably not. Konerko wasn’t flashy. He was a quiet guy who got his job done, and that’s the only way he wanted it. If you haven’t seen the farewell/thank you video he made, follow the link below. So from a Cubs fan to a White Sox player….thank you Paul.
The dog days of summer are finally over and the MLB playoffs are just about here. We’ve got a few things to figure out over the weekend. What we do know is that the Red Sox and the Yankees will not be a part of this, so ESPN will have to figure out what to do with themselves, but I’m very excited about this year, minus the Cubs not being there, of course, but I do like the direction they’re headed. But I digress and that’s for another day.
Sure, we’ve got some teams that we’re used to. The Cardinals are there AGAIN, which annoys me to no end, but what are you going to do? They know how to win and they know how to win late. The Giants and Dodgers will be around and if you’ve never seen Clayton Kershaw pitch, do yourself a favor and tune in for that. It’s nice to see the Nationals turn things back around after a disappointing 2013 and I’ll be watching the former Expos with great interest this year. But it’s hard not to root for the Pirates as well. After a 20 year playoff drought, they’re back for a second straight year.
Over in the AL, things should be very interesting. The Angels and their 20 billion dollar payroll lead the way and Detroit is trying to hang on to the Central, but the aforementioned Kansas City Royals are still fighting this weekend to take that top spot and avoid the wild card game. Baltimore dominated the East this year and rounding out the AL will more than likely be the A’s, who had the best record in baseball for a while before hitting a rough patch.
It’s nice to see some different teams for once and if these past few weeks have been any indication, we’re in for some great baseball come October.
Who you got in the playoffs? Do you have anything to say about Derek Jeter or Paul Konerko? Did I miss somebody? Let me know below or follow me and tweet @THElukenorris. Make sure to come back tomorrow for another edition of Working the Weekend with Luke as I get back to the trilogy countdown with #4. Until then kids.
