A Little Baseball History and More

Home Run, Home Run, Home Run, Single; Pablo Sandoval joined an elite group, arguably the most exclusive one in baseball with his three home runs in last night's first game of the World Series. In addition, he joined Babe Ruth as the only other player who came to bat with a chance to hit four homers in a World Series game. Pretty impressive for a player who had just twelve home runs in the regular season and was facing the pitcher many describe as the "best on the planet". So Verlander was off his game, Sandoval was dialed in, the Tigers were a little rusty and now we have the Giants up by a game in the Series. With all of the hype surrounding last night, it's still only one game, and the last time I checked, the World Series is and has been, since the early 1900's anyway, best four out of seven. So tonight, we'll see if the Tigers have shaken off the rust and get back on track against Madison Bumgarner, who is 2-6 in his last nine starts. Not exactly the guy to intimidate the Tigers. Look for the guys from Detroit to bounce back, and bounce back big.

David Stern Stepping Down: I'm not a huge NBA fan, but I need to give David Stern his due. He took over a league almost 30 years ago that had little credibility, virtually no national television presence and turned it into a great asset. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all David Stern. He was assisted mightily by three guys named Magic, Bird and Jordan. But if Pete Rozelle is revered as the visionary that put the NFL on top of the  sports heap in the U.S., then we need to acknowledge Stern's keen management and guidance of the NBA that had put the league at least on par with Major League Baseball. Nice job, Mr. Stern.

Great College Football Weekend: I won't have my picks posted until tomorrow, but if you're a college football fan, you have to love the upcoming slate of games. Four of the top five teams face challenges by schools that all have one loss or less. And then in the Big East, we have the showdown between Cincinnati and Louisville, while Rutgers plays a tough Kent State team. In the ACC, a bowl eligible Duke team tries to pull a shocker in Tallahassee against Florida State. Michigan and Nebraska square off in the Big Ten while USC travels to Arizona to face the Wildcats. And in the SEC, South Carolina looks to bounce back at home against Tennessee after those losses to LSU and Florida. Everyone better make sure there are batteries in the remote and plenty of space left on the DVR's.