This, That, and The Other.....

Some selected short subjects.....

The disappointment of the Pirates loss to the Cubs in the NL Wild Card game last week temporarily dampened my enthusiasm of the MLB post-season, and I have only caught bits and pieces of the four Division Series games.  However, I expect the enthusiasm will pick up soon, beginning with tonight's Game Five between the Mets and the Dodgers.  I'm calling for a Dodger win. As always, watch, but don't bet.

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Now I did happen to see the tumultuous and never-ending seventh inning between the Rangers and Blue Jays yesterday.  The major discussion point following that game appears to be this moment:

Ah, yes, the moment when Jose Bautista either (a) had a deep emotional moment and flipped his bat after hitting a three run home run that would lead to the Jays winning the game and the Series, or  (b) had a moment where he defied baseball's hallowed unwritten code and disrespected his opponents by flipping his bat after hitting a three run home run that would lead to the Jays winning the game and the Series.

I am not sure where I come down on the subject of bat-flipping and baseball's unwritten code.  I can come down on either side, I suppose, depending on the circumstances and the players involved, but I do know this:  If any team deserved being "disrespected" at that moment, it was the Rangers, who had just put on an exhibit of infield defense that would have been an embarrassment to a team of six-year old kids playing tee ball.  After the Rangers effectively gave the Jays six outs in that inning, if Cole Hamels didn't go ballistic and belt somebody in the club house after the game, he surely thought about it.

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Did you see that the University of Southern California fired their football coach, Steve Sarkisian, this week, five games into the season?  Two years ago, USC fired HC Lane Kiffen five games into that season.  USC, one of the more vaunted programs in all of the history of college football is now on its fourth head coach in three seasons.  Pretty soon, they'll be calling them the "Pitt of the West" !

Seriously, AD Pat Haden ought to think about returning to the broadcast booth real soon.

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Earlier this week, I had to undergo a medical procedure (nothing serious folks, thank you for asking), and the medical professional who administered the test was a dead ringer for Jerry Garcia. He told me not to worry and that "I will survive" .