Why doesn't FOX start these games on the hour? MLB has to look for another network to carry the World Series.

Jay-Z, ambassador of beer?

Dear FOX,

Have you ever considered that ratings are down because the crappy announcers, ridiculous graphics, and other garbage you've "added" to "enhance" the telecast has just turned off so many real baseball fans, that you've lost your core demographic?

Nah, that's too simple.

I guess GM figured they would run commercials in Spanish during the game. They do make most of their cars and trucks in Mexico now, it makes sense. Do John Cougar and Bob Seger not understand they are promoting a product as patriotic and American, when the producers of that product are closing plants and moving them to Mexico and are some of the biggest outsourcers we've got?

3

My favorite was Fox asking the umpires to let Kenny Rogers know that he had to slow down between innings because Fox will be running lengthier commericial breaks during the World Series due to the repeal of any and all FCC regulations regarding commercial length per hour, with no limit for recorded and live events.

I am scared to death to see how they butcher the BCS games.

Busch Stadium plays Budweiser music to rally the crowd. The whole game is a commercial.

I love Jay Z's new commercial. Actually I love Dale Jr. who needs more screen time in that commercial. The cars are nice also.

Wow, Carpenter is dealing. 60 pitches through 6 innings! If Suppan doesn't turn back into a toad, the Tigers might be in deep trouble.

btw Alex, whats ur thought on Jamie Moyer's extension, is that a bar setter for the FA this season?

9

I don't think so. He's older than watching this game is making me feel. Zito will get 3 years 35 Mil., and Schmidt will get a tad more. At least I think so. I am very curious to see what Pettitte does. Clearly spending all that money couldn't even get Houston to 83 wins, no way he is coming back to NY, I'd love to see him go to a contender.

Here's your ballgame. Zumaya vs. Pujols.

And that's that.

How come the Tigers didn't play this sloppy against the Yankees? Ugh. If the Tigers lose the World Series to the Cardinals, I'll be embrassed for them.

13

They were a sub-.500 team post All-Star break. This is the team I was hoping we would see. They just played well against us. As with all teams, there was added incentive to beat the Yankees, and with the lineup shuffling and refusal to start Wang on 3 days rest, we got beat by a hot team, and helped along by bad management.

Come back Andy! Come back!

"Special Message" is code for commercial now?

14 Like I have told you before, it doesn't matter how many times your repeat an inaccurate statement, you are still very wrong.

16

Oh that's right, it was all Mike Mussina's fault, I forgot.

I never imagined the NL team could win the WS this year.

18

I think the Tigers will win tomorrow night, Cards on Thursday, and the weekend is a toss up. I am uncertain as to how Rogers will react to all the attention in his next start, but I (gulp) think he will pitch well. As a baseball fan, I'd love to see a game 7. But what do I know, I think it's a good idea to have your best pitcher in the same State that the game is being played in during an elimnination game.

Anyone notice how much Tim likes to talk about that 'protective cup'?

Neifi!

20

Poor Tim. He agrees to do a job that he isn't qualified to do, and we all poke fun at him.

I think the Tiggers might be in trouble. I'm not sure Bonderman can beat Soup.

22

You might be right. I just get the feeling that this will be one of those win-one-lose-one Series. With no baseball that counts until April, I am hoping for seven games. I live in LA now, so at least I don't have to watch the Knicks anymore, but I do have to watch the Lakers and Clippers, and a USC team that will somehow prevent the SEC champ or West Virginia from playing in the BCS game, so Spring cannot come fast enough for me.

"Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka selected Scott Boras to represent him in negotiations with major league teams"

Well.. that just cost us about 10 million.

I'm warming up to the Cardinals. Rolen notwithstanding, you have to like Eckstein, Edmonds, Pujols, and Carpenter. LaRussa handled a difficult situation with professionalism and the articulation of the Lawyer that he is, shielding and preventing the less savvy Leyland from getting manhandled by an idiot press corp. I'd love every manager to loathe cheating, even on the part of his own players, like Frank Robinson, but Tony knows his guys are doing it too, and didn't want the World Series to deteriorate into another MLB embarassment, pitchers getting undressed on consecutive days, or multiple days, on the heels of a new collective bargaining agreement. It won't upset me if the Cards take this one.

Unless you raise the mound to pre-1968 height and enforce a realistic strike zone, outlaw protective gear, and move the fences out, I wouldn't blame most pitchers if they brought a Bankers Box to the mound, chock full of all the impliments of their trade.

Thanks Tony!

24

Does anyone know if Matsui has any sway with Matsuzuka, or will he bow to the highest bidder, which, considering the black hole that is free agent pitching, could be more teams than we think?

I'm hoping it goes seven, too. I just doubt it will. Unless the Tigers really get it in gear. They didn't even make it close in the two games they lost.

I like Taguchi. What an unlikely postseason hero. :)

26 I wouldn't count on getting Matsuzaka. It sounds like the Mariners are willing to pay any price. And the Mets...

27

They have had a very solid team, top to bottom and bench, for a few years now. They were just outgunned in '04 and aren't playing the best offensive team in the WS. If they can pitch, they can win this thing.

Taguchi is tough to dislike, he never complains, plays and plays well when asked, and hits in the clutch. Didn't they say he was batting .500 with the Cardinals with the bases loaded, with a sample size of like 50 AB's? Not too shabby, and he's 37, but looks like he's 22.

The longer the series goes, we can put off the inevitable Arod circus. Go Game Seven!

37! I had no idea he was that old. He's almost as old as Bernie. Pretty spry for an old guy. ;)

28

I would love to get him, but the money tap has a restrictor valve on it next season. If I had a choice, it would be the Mets. What happened to their pitching staff this year was just plain sad.

I'm Ok with seeing what the kids have got, and a 2 or 3 year deal with Moose. Which is what I think is going to happen. I just don't see them paying another 50-60 mil. for a questionable NL pitcher, or Zito. But they have surprised me before. I think George is thinking, "if you can't with with that, what can you win with?"

Anyone know of a countdown clock anywhere on the Web for P&C's? This horsesh*t afterthought to a great season can't end quick enough. Sorry, but for me it's been unwatchable, trying to find a reason, but nada... FOX Sports, Kenny Rogers, pine tar — I can't. I just can't...

The BEATDOWN my Jints slapped on the Cowboys last night will at least linger 'till Sunday, though, so I'm cool 'till then. Quick take on that game — if I landed here from Mars on Tuesday morning, I would still be wondering who Dallas played. All the talk is the 'Boys absolute failure to do this and that, to block someone, to catch the ball, QB screwup here and there, etc... — yet no props to a fired up (read: TO, Tuna, Monday Night TV, in Dallas, division game, first place on the line, internal BS, etc.) Big Blue Wreckin' Crew. Tuna was the only one I heard have it in perspective...

As a Cowboys fan, I can only hope that some good comes out of that game. Like Tony Romo emerging as the starting QB. The Tuna likes his vets as much as Torre does, but even he has to be worrying about having a QB with the mobility of a brick when our line is struggling so much.

You can make your own counter to any date you want at several sites on the Web. Like this one:

http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcount.html

32

You want my game wrap from last night?

Giants' Defense. I think I saw Michael Strahan in 4 different places on one play . . .lol. Say what they wan't about Bledsoe, but a QB that can move is good, yes, but a QB that can move, playing on a team with an offesive line where he "must move" is going nowhere. No team could have run a competent offense with the Giants' defense and Cowboys' offensive line play last night. And that's that. They are fo' real, and the NFC is weak, better get em' while the gettin' is good.

I love that fact that TO can blame everyone but himself, never mention his dropped 4th down catch, among others, and folks give him credit for being honest. I was watchimg his press conference and I kept thinking, here it comes, he's going to mention his dropped pass, but it never came.

Here is to the BOYS going down in a flaming wreck!

33

Sorry. I'm a Steelers fan, so I have built in Cowboys dislike. Again, sorry.

The line sucks, that's for sure, but Bledsoe didn't get benched because he couldn't move, he got benched because he didn't run the plays as designed, and that drives Parcells nutty.

It's bad, but not as bad as things are in Steel City. You can still make the playoffs.

Sorry, I don't think it was that significant. It was one game. Any given Sunday, and all that. (Or Monday night, as the case may be.)

The Cowboys gave the game away. Bledsoe's interception on the goal line was brutal. And stupid. A veteran like him should know better.

Romo didn't do much better, but he's a kid who's been warming the bench since the preseason. You have to expect some growing pains.

A Steelers fan? How'd you end up a Steelers fan, of all things?

I don't really hate the Steelers. Or even the Giants. Nope, the premiere rivalry in the NFL is Cowboys-Redskins. It's the Yankees-Red Sox of the NFL.

This season, I actually feel sorry for the Steelers. So many things have gone wrong for htem. And now Big Ben has another concussion. That's not good. Too many concussions can end a career. Just ask Troy Aikman.

36

If Romo can get the Favre out of himself--the need to throw the ball somewhere on all plays and at all costs--I think he'll be fine.

37

My dad. He grew up there, and I have always stuck with them, since I was a kid.

Tell me about it! He had a cuncussion 4 months ago during the crash, and now this one. I don't feel terrible about Batch, but Big Ben just knows how to pick up the big 3rd Downs and get the ball in the end-zone when we need to. "The Tackle" was as big as "The Catch," "The Flip Play", any of them. I waited 20 years for a good QB, and I don't want to lose this one, even if it means we blow this season. I just hope the Bengals keep us in it until Ben gets right.

23. USC already beat/crushed the probable SEC Champ.
vr, Xei

39 Is your dad a Pirates fan?

I know what you mean about QBs. I'm still half-expecting Big Ben to turn into pumpkin. The Steelers have had such bad luck with QBs. They look good for a year or two, then come back to earth with a thump. Neil O'Donnell. Kordell Stewart. Tommy Maddox.

26 "Does anyone know if Matsui has any sway with Matsuzuka, or will he bow to the highest bidder"

I think his agent choice (24) might answer that question...

34 T.O. did talk about dropping that pass in his press conference. He said he should have caught that ball. As usual, ESPN shows a sliver of a press conference and people take it as the whole truth. Regardless, the Cowboys didn't lose that game because of that dropped pass no matter how much ESPN and others focus on T.O. alone.

36 As a Cowboy fan, it irks me ESPN and its "experts" are obsessed with T.O. rarely mention Bledsoe's major role in the Cowboys' losses. He has been dreadful against good defenses. He constantly makes bad decisions and the killer pass that destroys the Cowboys' chances of winning or tying games.

The interception at the end of the 1st half against the Giants is a prime example of Bledsoe ignoring the designed play to go right to T.O. and forcing the ball to Glenn on the right. It is typical of Bledsoe's bad decision making.

I don't know what Romo can give the Cowboys, but at least he has upside and the they will know if they have to go sign a free agent like Chris Simms or draft a qb at the end of the season.

there's an interview with some guy who wrote some book about some guy named flood over here:

http://www.yesnetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061024&content_id=1411910&oid=36019&vkey=5

you have to scroll a bit to find it, but i assure you that it is there.

26 42 I think I read this in LoHud's comment section yesterday, but Matsuzaka allegedly expressed an interest in playing for the Mariners, because of Ichiro and Johjima. He viewed Ichiro as a mentor figure on the WBC team and would like to join him in the US. Of course, this report came from a Seattle paper, so take from what it what you will.

ESPN is reporting that the new Luxury Tax threshhoold means the Yankees are going to pick up Sheffield's option.

Huh? Anyone heard anything on this?

Actually I should have said the Yankees' option on Sheffield. My bad. I went to public school after all. Grammar schmammer.

43 Simone, I have to tell you that speaking as a Yankee fan, I have a built in "WTF?" factor with people who root both for the Cowboys and the Yankees. How did that come to pass?

But you are absolutely right, Bledsoe is a horrible quarterback. Absolutely baffling improvisational choices. If I were Parcells I would have CUT him at half time.

48 In my case, it's because I've led a peripatetic life, and came late to baseball. I was a diehard Cowboys fan by the time I was a preschooler. I didn't get interested in baseball until I was in college. By then, I was in New York.

The Tuna has apparently decided Tony Romo will be the starting QB. Hoo, boy. Bledsoe isn't going to be happy.