Mets Won’t Win The World Series

Author: Jeremy E. Martin
Source: download

The baseball playoffs are around the corner, and the Mets are looking like the only real choice to come out of the National League. The Cardinals are a disaster, the Dodgers are coming back to earth and the Reds and the Phillies have more holes than a block of swiss cheese (Philadelphia picked up ancient hurler Jamie Moyer in a vain attempt to solve their pitching woes, for example). The Mets may be the best choice, but they don’t inspire much confidence. Unless something drastic happens between now and October, I won’t be backing them in the playoffs.
There are many reasons to back this opinion, but here are my top three:
1) They’re running out of players – Tom Glavine is out. He’s going to be okay, but for a while he seemed convinced that his career was over. Pedro Martinez is out again, this time with a sore calf. Glavine and Martinez are the heart of the staff, and you don’t win in the playoffs without pitching.
Cliff Floyd is hurt again, and hot prospect Lastings Milledge has shown he isn’t ready for the primetime yet, so the team has problems in both corners of the outfield. To solve that problem they picked up Shawn Green in a trade on Tuesday and they are reportedly pursuing Moises Alou. With all due respect to both players, Green and Alou are no longer the solution to any problem you may have. If it was 1999 it would be a different story, but these guys aren’t young anymore. Heck, they are barely middle-aged anymore.
2) They’re in the National League – The NL has been bad for a while now, but it has reached a new low this year. The Mets are sitting at 76-48 as of Wednesday, but they went 6-9 against the American League this year. Twelve of the sixteen American League teams had winning records in inter-league play. How bad was it? The Mariners went 14-4 against the NL. They are 10-32 against their own division. That’s ugly. The National League hasn’t won a World Series game since 2003, and I have no faith that the Mets, or anyone else, is going to do anything about that this year.
3) They have a massive lead in their division – There are still more than five weeks left in the regular season, but the Mets have all but clinched the National League East. They are 13.5 games up as of Wednesday, and their closest competitor, the Phillies, don’t even have a winning record at home. In other words, short of a monumental and unprecedented collapse, the Mets are on their way to the postseason.
That’s good news for Mets fans, right? Well, not so much. A look at the playoffs since 1999 shows that the Mets aren’t in for a smooth playoff ride. In those seven seasons there have been 16 teams that have run away with their division, winning by at least nine games. Only two of the teams made it as far as the World Series (the 2001 Yankees lost to the Diamondbacks in seven and the 2004 Cardinals were swept by the Red Sox), and both lost. Ten of the sixteen teams didn’t even win a playoff series, falling in the divisional series.
It seems that a larger winning margin is actually a curse. The 1999 Cleveland Indians had the biggest margin of victory in this sample, with a 21.5 game cushion over the White Sox. They lost to Boston in the ALDS. Atlanta had a 19 game cushion in 2002, and they also couldn’t get out of the divisional series, losing to the Giants. The 2003 Giants had a 15.5 games cushion and lost in the NLDS. The 1999 Diamondbacks couldn’t ride a 14 game lead to a first round win. The Mets may want to shave a few games off their lead down the stretch to make sure they don’t get too far ahead of the competition. That’s obviously a curse.
It seems counterintuitive, but it may be better for the Mets to finish the season in a bit of a slow stretch. Both the Cardinals and the Yankees finished the season at a bland 5-5 pace before rolling into the World Series. The year after the Yankees went to the series, they again came in with a big lead, but this time they ended the season on a hot streak – 8-2. However, they got bounced by the Angels in the first round. Four of the six teams that finished the season with seven or more wins in their last 10 games got bounced in the first series.
History does give the Mets some hope. In 1998 their cross-town rivals won the World Series after cruising into the playoffs with a monster 22 game lead over the Red Sox. They managed to overcome the trend and win the World Series. It’s not as remarkable as it may seem, though, because five of the six division winners fit our criteria that year. Only Texas was in a relatively close race. One of the runaway division winners was bound to win with odds like that.
Check Doc’s Sports site for daily sports betting articles, 2006 NFL Schedules, NFL Odds, and Football Picks.

2010
02/18
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2009 National Football League – 90th Season

Author: Ronald Anderson
Source: ezinearticles.com

On Baronial 9, 2009, the division will alpha with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Bold and on February 7, 2010 the division will end with Super Bowl XLIV championship game. The accident will be captivated at Dolphin Amphitheater in Miami Gardens, Florida. This division aswell marks the 50th Division of the aboriginal eight allotment affiliate of the American Football League. Its owners are alleged the Foolish Club. The 5th alliance to use the American Football Alliance moniker began play in 1960 and become the American Football Conference (AFC) if it merges with NFL in 1970. The NFC’s Dallas Cowboy aswell celebrates their fiftieth division in 2009.

For this season, the accident has the afterward television partners: CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, NFL Network and Direct TV. CBS celebrates its 50th division of NFL coverage. It has already covered the NFL amateur from 1956 to 1993 and covered afresh from 1998 up to the present. Monday Night Football that is ahead aired on ABC was aired now in ESPN afterwards the two action networks operations were alloyed in 2006. . The aboriginal Monday night of the approved division will affection two Aboriginal Eight games, a doubleheader with the Bills at the Patriots and the Chargers at the Raiders. While in the radio, the accessible ally will be Dial Global’s Action USA Radio Network, Disney’s ESPN Radio and American City Business Journal’ Sporting News Radio.

The 2009 division is the aboriginal division for the new alleged amphitheater of the Dallas Cowboys. New York Giants and Jets will aswell move to a new amphitheater called Meadowlands Amphitheater for 2010. For this season’s uniforms, there will be a slight changes and alone modification from the antecedent 2008 NFL season. The new uniforms were apparent on April 25, 2009. Regarding the rules, there will be changes that will be considerations to advance the players assurance and abate injuries which were altercate during the league’s anniversary owners affair in Dana Point, California endure March 23. Rules as declared as follows:(1) A bang block cannot be initially delivered by a helmet, acquaint or accept to an opponent’s arch or neck.(2)The antecedent acquaintance to the arch of a caught receiver is aswell prohibited.(3)On kickoffs, a blocking block cannot abide of added than two players.(4)During onside alpha attempts, the blame aggregation cannot accept added than 5 players bunched together.

The 2009 division aboriginal bold will begins on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 8:35 message EDT, with the Super Bowl XLIII best Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Tennessee Titans at Heinz Field. This is the latest date the NFL can alpha its division as the division about starts the weekend afterwards Labor Day, This will be the eighth and tentatively final year that the alliance uses its accepted scheduling rotation. The Pro Football Hall of Fame bold is on baronial 9, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EDT on NBC. The AFC Championship Amateur is set for Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 3:00 p.m., followed by the NFC Championship Amateur at 6:30 p.m. Super Bowl XLIV, to be captivated at Dolphin Amphitheater in Miami Garden Florida, follows two weeks later, on February 7. Other amateur were appear on April 14, 2009 on the NFL Network and the NFL website.

2010
02/18
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The Pride of the National Flag

Author: Rob Kingdom
Source: download

This World Cup year added than any other, the eleven adventurous men that Sven Goran Eriksson chooses to represent us on the acreage in Germany will angle a bigger adventitious of acceptable the antagonism than any of those that accept stood afore them. So why not accord them our abounding support, beachcomber the England banderole with pride and acclamation on our boys in accomplishing celebrity which a lot of of us will be advantageous to see already in our lifetime.
A contempo UK-wide sample implies that the best allotment will abutment England – a above 83% of the Welsh and 76% of the Northern Irish intend to aback Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men. If your aggregation qualifies the World Cup occurs already every four years, so if it does eventually appear annular again it is the highlight of the year for a majority of football admirers and affectionate supporters.
At the moment there is a lot of belief surrounding the affair of aerial the banderole about the country. Cab drivers are getting told they accept to abolish stickers alliance abutment for their World Cup aggregation from their cars but accept vowed to angle up to the request. If you attending about the houses and anchorage area you reside you will assuredly see the backbone of abutment and brotherhood the World Cup brings to our neighborhoods.
However there is absolute account for auto drivers in Cheltenham for archetype afterwards the board chaotic their aboriginal accommodation to ban flags that acquired “public assurance issues”. Public clamor at the accommodation brought about the u-turn by the boondocks board who now accompaniment that flags may be displayed as continued as they do not absorb any anatomy of branding and are placed in safe abode so as not to accommodation the assurance of the passengers.
Many drivers accept displayed flags in their cars in animosity of the ban in a unified assuming of bellicism and abutment of Sven’s men.
You may album this commodity on your website or in your ezine as continued as it is reprinted in its absoluteness and the ability advice charcoal intact.
Please appointment Piggotts website for the adventitious to buy flags
http://www.piggotts.co.uk/

2010
01/01
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#88 UAB Blazers Preview

Author: Matt Fargo
Source: download

Spring practices are in the books and abatement camps will be actuality afore you apperceive it so that agency accepting an aboriginal jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt Fargo is actuality to advice you get a butt of what to apprehend this accessible year. We go from affliction to aboriginal in this 2006 College Football Preview.
#88 – UAB Blazers 5-6 SU; 5-5 ATS
Fargo’s Yield 2005 was declared to be a big year in Birmingham but it concluded up accepting a bust. Afterwards traveling to the aboriginal basin bold in the history of the affairs in 2004, the Blazers were accepted to echo that with the achievability of a C-USA acme on top of it. Instead, UAB stumbled to a 5-6 almanac because it couldn’t win the abutting games. All six losses were by individual digits and afterwards one-point defeats in October triggered the bottomward spiral. All-time casual baton Darrell Hackney is gone so the breach is traveling to yield a footfall backwards, at atomic from a casual standpoint. The breach will be added run oriented, which is area the backbone lies, and it will be up to the aegis to accumulate amateur aural reach. The aegis accustomed the atomic bulk of yards aback 2001 and with one of the best foreground sevens in the conference, that ambition is attainable. The agenda is ambitious but it is not absurd and if a quarterback can emerge, acceptable things can happen. That is a big if however.
Returning Starters on Breach – 6 Replacing the arm and the administration of Hackney will be absurd and the actuality that no quarterback came out of bounce with the job bound down does not brainwash a lot of confidence. The acceptable account is that whoever does appear out as the amateur isn’t traveling to be affected to carbon what Hackney accomplished. All eyes will be on the active bold area four chief backs advance the way forth with the acknowledgment of four abhorrent linemen. The Blazers accomplished 64th in hasty breach endure division and that will absolutely advance in 2006. Three players are aggressive for the arresting addition atom and while they will not be asked to win games, they will still be asked to accomplish plays, abundant to accumulate the breach affective and to absolute the time the aegis has to absorb on the field.
Returning Starters on Aegis – 6 The stop assemblage was acceptable but not abundant endure division and not authoritative the appropriate plays is what led to abounding abutting defeats. The aegis is blowzy with seniors this season, eight starters to be exact, so this should be a abundant bigger unit. The backbone is at linebacker area three chief starters are back, led by abiding tackler Orlandus King. Defensive end Larry McSwain is the capital guy on the band but afterwards finishing with 13 sacks in 2004, he alone to just four endure season. Apprehend those totals to access decidedly this year. The accessory does not acknowledgment any starters but there is abundant experience, six juniors and seniors on the two-deep, to advance on its 70th baronial adjoin the pass. The Blazers accustomed opponents to catechumen 45 percent on third down, a amount that needs to advance significantly.
Schedule The Blazers appear appropriate out of the aboideau with a bold at Oklahoma and afterward a bold at home adjoin East Carolina, they arch aback on the alley to face Georgia. Three beeline home amateur chase that cover contests adjoin Mississippi and Memphis. Catching Memphis and afresh UTEP at home are big break but the end of the division is a boxy stretch. Three of the Blazers final four amateur are on the alley including the final two amateur at Southern Mississippi and Central Florida, the two frontrunners in the East Division. Obviously the toughest allotment of the appointment agenda is at the end of the division but by that point, the breach should be abundant bigger off. An agitated in the final two weeks is not out of the question.
You can bet onÂ… UAB will be all about brawl ascendancy this year and as continued as the aegis plays to its potential, things should plan out. The Blazers were 21st in the country in absolute breach in 2005 but alone 52nd in scoring breach so those numbers charge to become added in line. UAB went 5-5 adjoin the amount endure division but went just 2-5 ATS down the stretch. The two wins were as dogs, which is annihilation new aback it has been one the best underdog teams over the endure few years. The Blazers are 29-11 ATS if accepting credibility over the endure seven years and we should see them in the dog role on affluence of occasions this year, giving us some acceptable opportunities already again. A acceptable almanac and a basin bold are possibilities but things charge to abatement into abode appropriate away, something that ability be too abundant to ask for.
Matt Fargo is a accurate affiliate of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his online writing at http://www.procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm

2009
12/30
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