The past couple months I've been working the early morning shift here at the house so the blog has been going up early. It just cracked me up to think that yesterday I was up at 3 AM, started working on the blog a bit after that but it didn't get posted until 9ish. Today, I got to sleep all the way to 5 and it's up by 7. All depends on how much attention the sleeping babies need.
Damn Rangers. They just can't beat crappy teams. The A's kicked the tar out of them last night and now they are 4 1/2 out of the wild card and 6 out of the west with 19 to play.
Rangers miss an opportunity to gain ground
By JEFF WILSON
Ft. Worth Star Telegram
jwilson@star-telegram.com
ARLINGTON — To have their bats silenced by Felix Hernandez in a critical September game was painful for the Texas Rangers but understandable.
That was Sunday, against one of the top pitchers in baseball.
But what happened Monday against career journeyman Brett Tomko, with the chance to gain ground in the playoff hunt, was like a punch to the gut.
Tomko tossed a five-hit shutout, facing two batters over the minimum, and Scott Feldman fell apart in the sixth and seventh innings as Oakland rolled to a 9-0 victory.
The Rangers failed to gain ground in the American League West as Los Angeles lost to New York. The gap stayed at six games but grew to 4 1/2 games behind idle Boston in the wild-card standings as Tomko extended the Rangers’ scoreless streak to 19 innings.
"It’s been a tough couple games," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "You’ve got to give a guy credit when he throws a complete-game shutout, but we definitely expect more from ourselves."
Everyone in a Rangers uniform believes they can qualify for the postseason, but they openly admit that it will be a tough task. The Rangers’ best chance to make up ground will come over the next six days.
The Red Sox and Angels square off at Fenway Park for three games beginning today, and the Angels then come to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for three games over the weekend.
The Rangers can’t afford to lose either of the next two games to Oakland, which is 7-6 against the Rangers this season. They can’t afford another loss, period, said outfielder Marlon Byrd.
"We’ve always got to believe," he said. "We have to string together some wins. We have to turn into the Colorado Rockies a few years ago and win straight through. It’s not easy, but it’s still possible with this team.
"We have to. It’s not desperation. It’s knowing that the teams in front of you don’t lose. They win series after series. It’s not about winning series now [for the Rangers]. It’s about going out there and getting sweeps. If we want to go to the playoffs, that’s the only way."
The offense will need to find consistency as it continues to play without Michael Young and Josh Hamilton. Their availability for the Angels series remains uncertain.
They’ve been missed as the Rangers dropped to 5-5 since Sept. 4 without either in the lineup.
"We miss Michael, and we miss Josh," manager Ron Washington said. "But these guys aren’t going to use that as an excuse. Last night it was Hernandez, and tonight it was Tomko."
Tomko (5-3) never faded en route to his 100th career victory. He entered the start with a 9.22 career ERA at Rangers Ballpark, and his only previous shutout was Aug. 26, 2004, at Florida.
But he allowed a double to Nelson Cruz in the second, and singles in the fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth. But he had faced only one batter over the minimum through eight thanks to three inning-ending double plays.
Feldman (16-5) matched him through five innings. He needed only seven pitches in the first, and the lone hit he had allowed entering the sixth was a one-out double to Scott Hairston in the second.
Now that was a crazy ending to a football game. The Patriots came back from down 11 with 5 to play to win by 1.
Patriotic rally
Late Brady TDs produce win in throwback opener
By Christopher L. Gasper
Boston Globe Staff / September 15, 2009
It took nearly four quarters for the Patriots and Tom Brady to put it together last night, but the result was a memorable 25-24 win over the Buffalo Bills, who ended up being foiled and being the perfect foils in Brady’s triumphant return.
Brady left no doubt about his comeback from torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee by leading a fourth-quarter comeback with a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Benjamin Watson that allowed the Patriots to open the season with a win and, at least for one night, overcome what could be the loss of middle linebacker Jerod Mayo.
Brady, who tied his career-high with 39 completions (in 53 attempts), threw for for 378 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He hit Watson with a 16-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds to complete a comeback from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and send the Patriots to their franchise-record 12th straight victory over the Bills.
“Well, that was an exciting night,’’ said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “You know it’s a great effort by our team. I’m really proud of the players, not that we played our best, but we hung in there and we kept playing down by 11 with four or five minutes to go in the game. We came back and made the plays we had to make to win. We certainly don’t want to put ourselves in that position very often.’’
What was supposed to be a celebration of Brady’s return after he injured his left knee in last year’s opener (Sept. 7, 2008) took a sobering turn for the Patriots early, when they lost Mayo, the quarterback of their defense, just six defensive snaps into the game.
Mayo was injured on a 16-yard run by Buffalo running back Fred Jackson that moved the ball to the Patriots’ 33. He walked off the field under his own power. The training staff examined his right knee on the bench. Brady, who may have been feeling some deja vu, watched as Mayo was attended to. Mayo never returned. The Bills scored their first touchdown three plays after he was hurt.
Some dude not named Federer (or even Nadal) won the US Open yesterday. Wow.
Del Potro Stops Federer in Five Sets and Wins Open
By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
New York Times
Published: September 14, 2009
The saga of Roger Federer’s most compelling Grand Slam season produced a surprise ending Monday night, when he was caught from behind by Juan MartÃn del Potro, the huge-hitting 20-year-old Argentine, in the United States Open final.
Del Potro’s 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 upset put an end to the No. 1-seeded Federer’s extended run of invincibility at the Open, depriving him of a sixth consecutive singles title and halting the major momentum he had acquired by winning the French Open and Wimbledon.
Del Potro’s victory — the first by an Argentine man in New York since Guillermo Vilas won in 1977 — required 4 hours 6 minutes, and it left him flat on his back and crying (Federer-style) with delight as soon as the Swiss champion’s last shot, a lunging one-handed backhand, had landed long.
At 6 feet 6 inches and with his long arms extended on the blue surface, del Potro took up plenty of space as he lay stretched out in the backcourt, just as he had covered plenty of ground in the late stages of this epic match, which featured baseline power in abundance. It was the first Open final in a decade to stretch to five sets.
“To win in five against Federer makes it even more special,” said the sixth-seeded del Potro of his first Grand Slam singles title. “Of course I knew it was going to be very difficult, and in a way, it makes it better that it was difficult.”
For nearly two sets, it appeared that Federer would continue surfing the wave of his own creation. For nearly two sets, he was serving below par but was in command once the ball was in play: reading the flow of the rallies beautifully, slicing precise backhands, ripping forehands and using his panoply of tactical options to befuddle the dangerous, more inexperienced del Potro, who looked tight and bothered by the reality of playing his first major final in the large stadium that had long made him dream from afar.
“This is my favorite tournament,” del Potro has often said: an original thought for an Argentine whose Grand Slam allegiances traditionally drift across the Atlantic to the French Open and its red clay surface.
But in a summer when so much had gone right for Federer on both a private and professional level, adding the crowning touch would prove too much to ask against his taller, more mechanical opponent. Until now, the only man to beat Federer in a Grand Slam final was Rafael Nadal, but del Potro was the Spanish speaker wearing the bandanna and sleeveless shirt across the net this time after sweeping past Nadal in straight sets in Sunday’s semifinals.
“You deserve it,” Federer told del Potro when he reached up to shake hands Monday night.
“Of course I would have loved to win, but I’ve had an unbelievable run here,” Federer said later to the crowd. “I would never have thought five or six years ago, I would win 40 matches in a row here.”
Looks like Helen Hunt will replace Maura Tierney on the new show Parenthood.
Helen Hunt eyed as 'Parenthood' replacement
Maura Tierney dropped out of the role last week
By Nellie Andreeva
Hollywood Reporter
Sept 14, 2009, 11:00 PM ET
Helen Hunt has been approached to join NBC's upcoming drama series "Parenthood," taking over the role played in the pilot by Maura Tierney.
The Oscar and Emmy winner is said to be considering the offer, which would mark her return to series television and to NBC, where she starred on the comedy "Mad About You" for seven years before segueing into features.
On "Parenthood," a contemporary take on Ron Howard's 1989 movie, Hunt would join an already strong cast.
The UMS/Imagine TV series, created by Jason Katims, revolves around four adult siblings -- three of them played by Peter Krause, Erika Christensen and Dax Shepard -- and their parents (Bonnie Bedelia and Craig T. Nelson).
Hunt would play the fourth sibling, a contemporary version of the character portrayed by Dianne Wiest in the film.
Tierney, who played the role in the pilot, pulled out of the series last week to focus on her breast cancer treatments.
"Parenthood," exec produced by Katims, Howard and Brian Grazer, was slated for a fall launch but pushed to midseason after Tierney's illness was discovered in July.
The 2nd season of "The Haney Project" will feature Ray Romano trying to fix his golf game. The first season with Charles Barkley was pretty good.
Ray Romano to work on golf game in show
Second season of 'The Haney Project' to air in March
Associated Press
Sept 14, 2009, 05:18 PM ET
NEW YORK -- Comic Ray Romano is going to the golf doctor.
The Golf Channel says the "Everybody Loves Raymond" star will be the focus of its new reality series, "The Haney Project." The series follows Tiger Woods' swing coach Hank Haney as he tries to improve the game of a celebrity.
The first season of "The Haney Project" with former NBA player Charles Barkley was the second-highest rated program in the network's history. Only "The Big Break," about competing for a spot on the professional tour, did better. The Golf Channel started in 1995.
Barkley's appeal was his hideously bad swing. Funnyman Romano, who's "obsessed" with golf and wants to get better, will add entertainment value to the show, said Tom Stathakes, the network's programming chief.
The Romano project is expected to air in March.
The Golf Channel is trying to become more than just putts and slices. "Law & Order" actor Anthony Anderson is host of a news program called "Golf in America," and the network is filming a reality series about troubled golfer John Daly.
Apparently the Leno show didn't impress this guy last night.
Besides Kanye, new Leno show is a bit of a snoozer
By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY
Bet NBC wishes Kanye could do Jay every day.
Because without Kanye West, and his conveniently timed controversy from the MTV Video Music Awards, NBC's Jay Leno Show premiere Monday would have been even more of a cut-rate, snooze-inducing, rehashed bore. If Leno's desire is to help fans get to sleep earlier, desire satisfied.
West was only supposed to sing. The planned interview segment was devoted to Jerry Seinfeld — who, in the spirit of late-night talk, pretty much did a stand-up routine barely disguised as a conversation, mixed with plugs for his latest project.
But West, Leno said, wanted to speak to him about his MTV decision to interrupt Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, and Leno wisely complied. It was hardly a probing interview (though he did make West pause by invoking his mother). But at least West gave Leno something fresh to talk about, a welcome relief on a show where almost every other moment seemed frozen in amber.
And that's the main problem with Leno. It's a new business idea, an attempt to provide cheap, alternative programming five nights a week in a 10 p.m. slot the network was probably going to lose anyway. But creatively, there wasn't an original thought to be found, which is what happens when your only goal is to fail less expensively.
Leno had promised his new show would not be the same as the old one, but it looked awfully similar. If you found Leno's routine amusing before, you probably found it amusing Monday night. And given his propensity for repeating jokes, you'll probably find it amusing Tuesday night as well.
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