Hardball Heaven

Imagine being the Tigers and their fans right now? The team is (was) on a major roll, steamrolling the Yankees and the A's, and now they're waiting for the victor of the dreadfully boring Mets-Cardinals series. The fans are waiting to see their team in the Fall Classic for the first time in 22 years. And they may be waiting for a while. Between rainouts and typical NL-style ball, this one might not be over by Thanksgiving. The Tigers will most definitely be rested.

What an entertaining/zany weekend of sports. The Miami-Florida International brawl Saturday night was atrocious, and I hope you had a chance to hear Comcast announcer Lamar Thomas as he described the brawl. Thomas, a former Hurricane, sounded like he was ready to join the fray. Today, he's out of a job. The Arizona Cardinals pulled off one of the biggest chokes in recent memory (not quite as tragic as the Yankees in 2004) and lost to the Bears Monday night, prompting Cardinals coach Denny Green to absolutely blow a gasket after the game. And Fox broadcaster Steve Lyons (above) was shitcanned for no apparent reason. What is this world coming to?

Thank goodness we've got Patriots football coming up this weekend after a bye. The Pats resume action against the pathetic Bills in Buffalo and should roll to a relatively easy win. The team signed WR Jabar Gaffney to see what he could do, and there are rumors swirling around about Randy Moss. Ain't gonna happen.

The Cubs hired that Mexican wallet-stealing Lou Piniella to be their next manager. I was just getting used to him as a color analyst.

I went 7-6 with the picks last Sunday, bringing the season mark to a respectable 41-29-3. Dr. Z this. The Saints came up big this weekend and the Bengals may not be as good as we all originally thought. Not sure I'm liking this parity thing -- makes you appreciate the Pats' consistency even more.

Are we really going to have a period of time where it's just the NHL and the NBA? It's about time the NFL went year-round (you know they want to.)

The Globe is reporting that Theo Epstein has finally signed his contract. Good, now get busy young man. As we sit here today, Kevin Youkilis is your starting 1B, we don't know is playing second, we don't know is playing short, Mike Lowell is playing 3B, Manny (we think) is in left, we don't know who's playing right, and we hope Coco is playing center. Oh, and Varitek - God love him - may have seen his best days. Have we gotten to the pitching yet?