tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:12:52 +0000Roger FedererNHLTennisBCSChinaUsain BoltOriolesHeismanConference AlignmentPiratesOregonIdaho Potato BowlJoe PaternoNBA3 Games in 3 DaysDodgers100th PostAlbert PujolsVancouverAngelsMarinersTour de FranceNCAA FBMichael JordanChicago BearsUrban MeyerJay CutlerMLBUSCSmurf TurfNovak DjokovicESPNWorld SeriesPete RoseInstant ReplayAdmiral AckbarSonicsMichelle WieRafael NadalMatt CainSiouxCam NewtonGolfNebraskaOpen ChampionshipBarry BondsLonghorn NetworkPenguinsBob Hope ClassicFloridaMark IngramUtahTim TebowNBA DraftCollege BBNY YankeesKatie HoffLance ArmstrongNFLMid-MajorsTiger WoodsEugenio VelezMLB PlayoffsEvan LongoriaGonzagaSpring TrainingNCAABNP Paribas OpenMarch MadnessA-FraudBad KarmaHope SoloIdahoHumana ChallengeRoy HalladayMCWHeatForbes FieldOhio StateSteroidsEye of the StormSuper BowlFearless PredictionsSteelersMannyApple CupPenn StateBud SeligLeBron JamesOklahomaBeijing 2008WACMatt BarkleyPac-10UniformsAll-Star GameBrett FavreMaria SharapovapadresTim LincecumTony RomoStanley CupBig 10Yankee StadiumTexasBrett KeiselMichael PhelpsSF GaintsRed SoxLA LakersNCAA BKSpygateBoise StateBlue (and Orange)AcademicsMavericksCanucksFOR PETE'S SAKE IS SPORTS COMMENTARY ON BASEBALL, FOOTBALL AND WHATEVER ELSE IS WRITTEN FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF EVERY FAN.http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Pete)Blogger221125http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/fb_pwrd.gifblogspot/fpsonlinehttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-2606442668155893372Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:26:00 +00002012-01-29T01:30:41.269-05:00PenguinsNHLIn this modern day of sports arenas, anything that's been around a decade is old. Any building five decades old is essentially the equivalent of the Egyptian Pyramids. That's why the iconic Civic Arena, more affectionately known as the Igloo, is coming down piece by piece in Pittsburgh. The arena opened in 1961 and the Penguins took ownership of the dome when they joined the NHL six years laterhttp://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2012/01/thanks-for-memories-igloo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-6578857296713546776Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:09:00 +00002012-01-23T00:10:33.391-05:00Humana ChallengeGolfBob Hope ClassicA year ago, I walked the Palmer Private course at PGA West during the Bob Hope Classic and the atmosphere was stale. The crowd was old and there was no buzz on the course. Greg Norman and President Bill Clinton joke around (Jim Edwards/Patch.com) Something had to change and it did. The PGA commissioner and a man from Hope, Ark. stepped in and save to the Hope. Former President Bill Clinton http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2012/01/humana-clinton-bring-new-life-to-hope.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-8212868984316197006Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:22:00 +00002012-01-22T22:55:00.577-05:00NFLBrett FavreTim Tebow Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is the new Brett Favre of the NFL. Favre was either loved or hated, much like Tebow is now. And No. 4 was also unconventional, choosing to throw into triple coverage over the easy target, making the big plays and big mistakes. Favre used to be the go-to name in pro-sports, there was even an entire summer ESPN camped out in Hattiesburg, Miss., but now itshttp://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2012/01/tebow-takes-media-mantle-from-favre.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-3288698530402395296Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:39:00 +00002012-01-13T15:39:13.699-05:00NHLProfessional athletes hurt themselves in a lot of bizarre ways. Like when pitcher John Smoltz scalded himself while ironing a shirt - while he was wearing it. But a hockey player sat out a game this week may take the cake, the pancake that is. Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Penner suffered back spasms while taking a bite of "delicious pancakes." Of course Penner has been the joke of the NHL, http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2012/01/nhl-star-catching-flap-for-pancakegate.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-668295612648358159Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:20:00 +00002012-01-13T04:59:48.672-05:00BCSNCAA FB Alabama's Trent Richardson celebrates the BCS title (AP Photo) The Bowl Championship Series has its flaws, but for the first time the system truly failed. In most years, the BCS has benefited from an undisputed champion winning like in 2001 when Miami beat a Nebraska team who did not win their own conference and jumped two other deserving schools. The BCS did not get that luxury on http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2012/01/tide-swells-for-playoff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-559956349443320869Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:51:00 +00002011-12-09T13:34:32.832-05:00AngelsAlbert PujolsMLBThe Los Angeles Angels kept swinging in the free-agent market and they finally hit one out of the park on Thursday. Angel fans can forget about not keeping Mark Teixeira and missing out on Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre in year's past, because Albert Pujols, the best hitter of this generation, will be calling Angel Stadium home. The deal that brought Pujols to Southern California will cost http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/12/angels-turn-tide-on-al-rivals.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-8286565481483734868Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:36:00 +00002011-11-21T01:21:18.185-05:00MLB PlayoffsNY YankeesRed SoxMLBBud SeligMajor League Baseball has decided to dramatically change its October look, and not for the better. The playoffs will be expanded by two teams as early as next year. That means one-third of baseball's 30 teams will make the postseason, in what feels like another Yankees-Red Sox exception. The first Yankee-Sox playoff exception states if the team with the best overall record and the wild-card http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/11/expanded-playoffs-reward-mediocrity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-8860404891172425162Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:01:00 +00002011-11-21T00:39:24.877-05:00OriolesMLBEverything old is new again, and that's especially true in Baltimore. The Orioles announced a much needed uniform upgrade this week, bringing back its retro cartoon bird to grace hats for nearly all of the 2012 baseball season. The new-old logo replaces the ornithologically-correct Oriole, which was given it's own makeover in 2009 and from far away was little more than a blob of color. The http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/11/bird-is-back.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-8163713226350001768Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:07:00 +00002011-11-17T14:45:32.525-05:00Boise StateIdahoSmurf TurfNCAA FB TCU's Josh Boyce pulls away from a Bronco defender to score a two point conversion. As much as I malign Boise State's Smurf Turf, because it's deserving, there's a mystical power over the field when it comes to two-point conversions. The latest evidence happened Saturday, when the TCU Horned Frogs walked out of Bronco Stadium with a rare, dramatic come-from-behind win. TCU converted a http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/11/two-point-conversion-magic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-8343262692178658875Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:22:00 +00002011-11-10T02:23:41.841-05:00Joe PaternoPenn State Penn State University missed the mark not once, but twice, in the child-sex scandal that's turned State College, Pa. into "not so" Happy Valley. First, there were massive failures at several levels to report an alleged rape of a child by former Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky in 2002. Those failures start with the former graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, who witnessed the http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/11/penn-state-misses-mark.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-1989724902852627790Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:55:00 +00002011-11-01T15:56:37.495-04:00MLB PlayoffsWorld SeriesMLB The Cardinals were only the best team when it mattered (AP Photo) Fresh off their second World Championship parade in six years, the St. Louis Cardinals are going to go into the history books as one of the baseball's more improbable champions. The Redbirds were 10 games out of playoff contention on Aug. 1, a strike away from defeat before staging a legendary comeback in Game 6, and erasing anhttp://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/11/winning-isnt-key-timing-is.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-5732084632153488597Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:56:00 +00002011-10-28T03:01:22.955-04:00Boise StateNCAAIdahoAcademicsAs the saying goes, there's lies, damn lies and statistics. In the name of higher academic standards the NCAA board of directors decided to talk big, but in reality do nothing. On Thursday, the NCAA decided that in order to play in the postseason, schools must have a four-year average Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 930 or better. That equates to graduating about half of the players on a given http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/ncaa-hides-behind-statistics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-22337054334714843Mon, 24 Oct 2011 02:44:00 +00002011-10-28T03:00:14.907-04:00Conference AlignmentNCAA FBA real Conference USA is happening! Last week, word dropped that the Mountain West Conference (or WAC 2.0) and Conference USA agreed to form a football alliance. They hope the move will help solidify both conferences and maybe lead to an automatic BCS bid. Sadly, this announcement comes too little too late in the conference shuffle. There's a perceived pecking order in college sports, http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/too-late-for-real-usa-conference.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-3582557130559382221Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:59:00 +00002011-10-15T15:14:22.212-04:00Conference AlignmentTexasNCAA FBConference turmoil is hanging over college football like a dark cloud. The chase for more television money and prestige is killing the fun of old fashioned regional rivalries. When the University of Pittsburgh exits the Big East, it's going to try to keep the Backyard Brawl going with West Virginia who's a mere 75 miles down the road, but no guarantees. Looks like a growing blood feud is http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/conference-mayhem-spiraling-out-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-1268710342687100628Sat, 15 Oct 2011 03:36:00 +00002011-10-15T13:18:42.432-04:00Boise StateNCAA FB Wisconsin has bullied its way past powder-puffs for a perfect record so far. The college football season is at its tipping point. Teams are about to get into the heart of its conference seasons, and I hope the games get more interesting. Up until this point, college football has been battered by a barrage of scandals, conferences cannibalizing one another for money and an uninteresting slatehttp://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/sometimes-football-is-unwatchable.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-2993502553472273930Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:17:00 +00002011-10-04T03:17:44.706-04:00MLB PlayoffsMLBMLB playoffs are in full swing and Bud Selig and Co. want you to believe it's not the same old October story. But it is. Three of the eight playoff teams this year (Milwaukee, Arizona and Tampa Bay) are in the bottom half of team payrolls. Arizona went from worst to first, while the Brewers won its division for the first time in 29 years, and those bottom dwellers are who the commissioner http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/mlb-cant-toot-its-horn-but-dont-buy-it.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-2396561478221154461Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:43:00 +00002011-09-30T14:18:32.839-04:00DodgersEugenio VelezMLBIt was 70 years ago Ted Williams set a baseball record that has been untouched by any professional since, hitting .400 for a season. The Boston great actually hit .406 in 1941. As the 2011 season ended, another record was set that probably won't be broken for a while. LA Dodgers infielder Eugenio Velez set a two dubious marks for futility. Velez grounded out to second as a pinch hitter in the http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/dodger-sets-dubious-record.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-3681726964738342908Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:52:00 +00002011-09-30T03:03:48.494-04:00MLB PlayoffsNY YankeesRed SoxMLBBud SeligEvan Longoria Even in Major League Baseball's long, arduous season every game matters. In what will likely go down as one of the wildest endings to a regular season ever, two teams popped champagne, while two picked up the pieces from their epic September collapses. It all transpired simultaneously, in minutes, and much like March Madness was spectacular nail biting drama. And to think it could all http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/not-so-wild-idea.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-8288271130536227326Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:57:00 +00002011-09-22T15:31:02.844-04:00DodgersMLB The MLB season is drawing to an end, which means awards season is right around the corner. Voters, of which I am not, will face their typical dilemma, how much does winning matter? You can basically chalk up that college football's Heisman award will be given to the best player on the best team. Looking at past MLB award winners, playing on a winning team does matter. That's unfortunate, http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/cy-young-mvp-hinge-on-winning.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-9174652941403204901Wed, 21 Sep 2011 06:07:00 +00002011-09-21T02:08:03.283-04:00PiratesMLBIt was sure fun while it lasted. The Pittsburgh Pirates managed to climb seven games above .500 in late July and even spent a few days atop the division, in July. Then reality set in. The Bucs soft-toss pitching staff started getting hammered. Kevin Correia, Charlie Morton and company have allowed the most runs in the NL since the All-Star break. And the offense, which was never good, couldn'thttp://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/19-years-and-counting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-7809543138571961035Sun, 18 Sep 2011 15:06:00 +00002011-09-18T15:37:05.482-04:00NCAALonghorn NetworkTexasNCAA FBESPNTexas isn't bigger than an entire conference, and could get gored.College conference cannibalism has made a mid-season return. It's back in full fury. So if the idea of Syracuse and Pittsburgh moving from the Big East to the ACC isn't sitting well, blame Texas.Greed is a systemic problem in college football right now, but the University of Texas' push to create its own TV network dedicated solelyhttp://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/09/texas-sized-mess.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-2379924193673971820Thu, 25 Aug 2011 05:48:00 +00002011-08-25T01:48:00.922-04:00Boise StateSmurf TurfNCAA FBBoise State got its big wish this past off-season, they graduated from playing the "Little Sisters of the Poorer" (the WAC) to just the "Little Sisters of the Poor" (the Mountain West). But its acceptance into the Mountain West brethren will cost Boise its camouflaged fashion. The Broncos blue uniforms on the ugly Smurf Turf, where they have won 63 straight regular-season games, must go. The http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/08/bye-bye-boise-state-blues.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-5097494257685511673Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:22:00 +00002011-08-23T22:22:00.274-04:00NCAANebraskaNCAA FBCollege football is ready to kick off a new season, but it's probably not ready for reform. From Columbus to Auburn, Chapel Hill to Coral Gables, scandal is hitting major programs like the plague. NCAA investigators might be more interested in a couple tarnished early season matchups than the fans. The luster is off the Oregon-LSU game at Cowboys Stadium. And Ohio State at Miami is in a league ofhttp://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/08/nebraska-husked-helping-athletes-learn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-1401738780088846574Mon, 22 Aug 2011 03:24:00 +00002011-08-22T02:53:41.949-04:00NCAASiouxThe long arm of the NCAA has been busy this year. With allegations surfacing that 72 Miami Hurricanes were showered in cash and other impermissible gifts, eight major football programs have landed in trouble. But instead of moving with its full force to clean up college football, the NCAA is still crusading to banish nicknames that are "abusive and hostile" and politically incorrect. That's why http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/08/fighting-for-fighting-sioux.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7792235333051645899.post-2341310712490827284Sun, 07 Aug 2011 16:37:00 +00002011-08-07T19:09:02.052-04:00Boise StateIdahoNCAA FBIdaho Potato BowlCollege football is right around the corner. The next crop of players are starting to report back to campus for training camp.The extremely arbitrary, and way too meaningful, preseason polls are being unveiled.And when the season kicks off, there will undoubtedly be an excessive amount of criticism over the BCS and college football's bowl system.But one bit of news this week makes bowl games all http://forpetessakeonline.blogspot.com/2011/08/spud-bowl-is-happening.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Pete)0