Playoffs, Are You Talking About Playoffs?

Haven't the Patriots clinched a playoff spot? Too much math for my brain to deal with at the moment.
If the AFC Playoffs Began Today : Patriots Daily

1st seed - AFCE division leader New England Patriots (9-0). Last Sunday’s gutty comeback win over the reigning champion Colts gives the Pats undisputed possession of the AFC’s first seed this week. Little known fact - prior to Sunday, the Colts held this spot by virtue of the 4th tiebreaker; strength of victory.

That's surprising. If someone had come off the street and told me that last week, I wouldn't have believed them.

Drama, Drama, Drama...

It's only been a few weeks since the Red Sox won the World Series and we're seeing more drama now than we did during the season.

Schilling returns after his last game in a Red Sox uniform for only $8 million for one year, unless he keeps the weight down, in which case he gets $2 million more. I mean, offer me the money to keep the weight off, please!

Will Lowell be coming back (I want him for two years, but certainly not four!), or will the Red Sox enter the ARod party line (Please, please, please don't spend that much money on one player! Remember how you tried to waive manny and no one took him? That was just for $20 mill a year!). What about Pena at first instead?

Youk gets the golden glove and the most photographed award (I've seen so many after party pictures and in-flight shots over the past few days).

And then there's Coco, the man who could have won a Gold Glove if his rep was better than his name. Will he be traded and for who? Theo always seems to want to get the best deal possible, but let's just take what we can get, ok? We don't need a fourth outfielder all that badly. We could have won with or without him this year, and the same can be said for any other fourth outfielder you can name.

All in all, a lot to digest over the past week. Can we get back to the dancing and bedazzling, please? ;-)

Pats Go Back to Sunday Night

Not that I have a problem with watching the Patriots at night, but is playing against Buffalo really that exciting?
Patriots' Nov. 18 trip to Buffalo moves to Sunday night - USATODAY.com

The league pushed back the start of New England's game at the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 18 to 8:15 p.m. ET and it will move from CBS to NBC. Originally, Patriots-Bills was set for 1 p.m. ET on CBS and Chicago at Seattle was the night game.

Yankees are OUT, Cleveland is IN

Really, it's kind of depressing to see the Yankees out of the playoffs again. I would rather have faced them in the ALCS than Cleveland.

Mostly, that's because I'm more familiar with them. I know who the bad guys are. I know who the talented guys are. I know the coach(es). But what that all boils down to is I know what to expect and why. And that is, I know the Yankees will come all out every game right up until the last pitch. That makes the game exciting to watch.

Cleveland, from all reports, are better than the Yankees. They proved they were, at least, when they faced them down in the first round. But as we gear up for the second round, I can't help thinking: who is Carmona and how can those yahoos on the radio say he has an edge over Schilling? I mean, Curt Schilling, the guy with the best playoff record in baseball? I know the kid went 19-8 with a 3.06 record during the season. I know he pitched very well against the Yankees. But to say a 23 (or is he 24?) year old has an edge against a veteran playoff pitcher like Schilling?

BTW, despite all the hype about the pitching match-up in game one, I expect it to be ugly. No one has played a game in a week. The hitters and pitchers are going to be rusty. The second game will probably be a lot better.

Today was Easy, Tomorrow Will Be Harder

Even as the Patriots and Red Sox celebrated their wins last night, I couldn't help think that next week will be harder. The Cowboys will be the first team to face the Patriots who will really be seen as a tough team to beat. Especially since the Boys will be at home. And whoever wins out in the Cleveland/Yankees series is bound to be tougher than the Angels turned out to be.

The Indians pitching (starting) can be scary, while the Yankees line-up makes it difficult to put them away. They will keep coming at you right up until the last out.

I do so hope it's the Yankees that win, btw. It would certainly make things a lot more interesting. It seems like a lot of people are burned out on the rivalry, but I think they will come back alive if the Yankees manage to come back to life.

However, the quick end to the Angels match-up means we have to wait until Friday for the next game. What are we supposed to do in the meantime, watch the Bruins?