by sloppyvinyl | Nov 15, 2018 | SPORTS
deGrom (1.70 ERA) Takes Home First Cy Young Award
The voters have spoken, and their decision regarding the 2018 NL Cy Young and AL Cy Young are hard to argue with.
New York Mets’ right-hander Jacob deGrom and Tampa Bay Rays’ left-hander Blake Snell were awarded the NL Cy Young and AL Cy Young awards respectively on Wednesday night.
deGrom led the MLB with a 1.70 ERA this season, but a lack of run support from the 12th ranked offense in the National League led to the right-hander finishing the season 10-9.
Still, deGrom finished second in the National League in innings (217), strikeouts (269) and WHIP (0.91). He holds the MLB record for longest streak of starts with three earned runs or fewer with 29 consecutive starts, a run that began back in April during the regular-season and is still active.
The 30-year-old beat out stiff competition in Max Scherzer — who was gunning for his fourth Cy Young Award — and Aaron Nola, but the king in Gotham takes home the award deservingly so.
He’s just the fourth Mets pitcher in franchise history to win the award as he joins Tom Seaver, Dwight Golden and R.A. Dickey on that short list.
Snell — the only 20-game winner in 2018 — finished the season 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA, striking out 221 batters over 180.2 innings in 2018. His 21 wins led the majors while his 1.89 ERA led the American League this season.
He’s just the second Tampa Bay Rays pitcher in franchise history to win the AL Cy Young Award as David Price did it back in 2012.
He beat out both Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for the award. Some felt like Verlander’s innings pitched would factor into him winning the award, but the voters thought differently here, awarding the pitcher who dominated in most of his starts.
Did the voters get it right? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Nov 14, 2018 | SPORTS
Chris Paul Sons Nuggets’ Star At Pepsi Center
Chris Paul is typically a classy individual on and off the court, contrary to a growing belief that he’s not after Rajon Rondo seemingly tried to spill the beans on him after their fist fight last month at the Staples Center.
Well they might have a Point after what the All-world guard did to Denver Nuggets’ Center Nikola Jokic on Tuesday night.
Take a look.
You didn’t have to go all Curly Neal and circus show on the young man, he just want to feed his family and make it to the NBA playoffs.
Damn you, Chris!
We saw Paul embarrass Brooklyn Nets’ center Jarrett Allen not too long ago with his handles in the right corner on a similar play, but he missed the shot.
He didn’t miss this one, however.
On a scale of 1-10, what are you giving that play? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Nov 14, 2018 | SPORTS
Both Teams Looking To Make Up Ground In Crowded NFC Playoff Picture
Aaron Rodgers will lead the Green Bay Packers into loud CenturyLink Field to take on Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night in a matchup of two teams fighting to get back into contention for the playoffs.
Neither team is where they want to be, hovering around the .500 mark and looking up in the standings their respective division, but both have the talent to be dangerous in 2018.
The Seattle Seahawks will look to rebound from a tough 36-31 loss at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to the Los Angeles Rams as they came up just short against their division rivals.
Meanwhile, Mike McCarthy’s Green Bay Packers look to get their first road win of the season as they are 0-4 on the road in 2018.
Before this pivotal NFC matchup with playoff implications for both, we’ll take a look at the headlines going into this matchup.
Let’s get started!
Championship Form On Offense For Seattle
While the offensive line is still a mess at protecting Russell Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks have slowly rounded into the type of form on offense that saw them play for the Super Bowl in consecutive years.
By running the football.
Seattle was 23rd in rushing and tied for 20th in rushing attempts last season. It’s been a complete 180 in 2018.
Seattle has the NFL’s top rushing offense this season as in addition to the dual-threat option of Russell Wilson playing a significant factor, Seattle may now have themselves a three-headed monster at running back as second-year back Rashaad Penny is coming off his first 100-yard game of his season.
Carson missed the Seahawks game last Sunday in Los Angeles with a hip injury but is set to return on Thursday night. Mike Davis has been an impressive change of pace back out of Seattle’s backfield, another back who has registered a 100-yard game this season.
It’s a unique situation for Seattle offensively, and it’s helping Russell Wilson stay on pace for a new career-high in Passer Rating at 110.2 as he’s thrown 21 touchdowns to just five interceptions.
Packers Trying To Solve Road Issues
The outlook of the Green Bay Packers’ season would be far more positive if they could manage to win a road game. After dropping all four of them to start the season, they now face back-to-back road games in Seattle and Minnesota.
CenturyLink Field has not been kind to the Packers, specifically on offense as Aaron Rodgers has just two touchdown passes to three interceptions in three games there since 2012 where the Packers have gone 0-3.
Albeit, one of those games ended in what should’ve been an interception for Green Bay on a controversial Hail Mary touchdown throw from Russell Wilson to Golden Tate, the Packers scored only 12 points in that game and Rodgers was held without a touchdown.
The Seahawks don’t have a Legion of Boom, but what they do have is team speed across the board and 70,000+ screaming and rabid fans creating chaos and hell for opposing offenses.
Seattle is only 1-2 at home this season, but that didn’t mean the opposing team had much fun playing in this environment. If Green Bay wants to stay in contention for their division, they have to win this game on Thursday night.
Is The Answer To Green Bay’s Offensive Troubles Aaron Jones?
The Green Bay Packers are coming off a 31-12 rout of the Miami Dolphins at Lambeau Field, and the highlight of the game was the play of second-year running back Aaron Jones.
Jones rushed for a career-high 145 rushing yards on just 15 carries to go along with two scores vs. the Miami Dolphins. Injuries have slowed the 23-year-old back early in his career, and that may be the Packers thinking when Jones is averaging only 10.4 carries per game, but with a unproven receiving core and injury-riddled Randall Cobb, is that the right choice?
Mike McCarthy is the man calling the plays for the Green Bay Packers and there have only been two games this season where the defense or poor play forced Green Bay into going into a pass-heavy catch-up approach. Jones played in both of those games after missing the first two games of the season.
Jones at five-foot-nine and 208 pounds is a loud to handle, and he’s plenty strong once he makes contact into a defender as he keeps his legs churning for more yards. The Packers haven’t had a back like this since Ryan Grant, yeah, a long time ago you might be thinking.
Rodgers is often not throwing the ball to an open man and is forced into holding the ball the more double teams Davante Adams and Jimmy Graham see each game, so Jones getting a increase in touches could change Green Bay’s fortunes moving forward.
What are your thoughts on this Week 11 matchup in Seattle? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Nov 14, 2018 | SPORTS
Big Blue In Search Of First Home Win This Season
The Giants have a short week to prepare, but that’s not playing a significant role in the belief that they won’t make it two-in-a-row.
The New York Giants are listed as -1.5 point favorites at home at MetLife Stadium vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their Week 11 matchup this Sunday.
The New York Giants (2-7) are coming off a come-from-behind 27-23 victory over the San Francisco 49ers last Monday at Levi’s Stadium, their first since Week 3.
Eli Manning led the G-Men from down 10 points in the second half, throwing three touchdowns, including a game-winning 3-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard with 53 seconds remaining.
New York’s defense would force San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Nick Mullens into two key turnovers as New York won the turnover battle 2-0 on the night.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6) are coming off their most puzzling and arguably disappointing loss of 2018 as they lost 16-3 at Raymond Jones Stadium to the Washington Redskins.
Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers racked up 501 total yards and picked up 14 more first downs than the Washington Redskins, but four turnovers cost the Buccaneers in the loss. They also weren’t helped by Chandler Catanzaro’s two missed field goals.
The New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers last met in Week 4 last season as Tampa Bay edged New York 25-23 at Raymond Jones Stadium.
Jameis Winston had a huge day through the air against the Giants secondary as he threw for 332 passing yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
Eli Manning was steady with 288 passing yards and two scores, giving New York a lead with 3:16 to go on a 2-yard touchdown strike to Rhett Ellison, but Winston would lead the Buccaneers on a late drive for a field goal as Nick Folk banged a 34-yarder as time expired.
The New York Giants have not won a home game since Week 17 of last year and look to accomplish that here against a Buccaneers team with one win since Week 3.
What are your thoughts on the New York Giants’ Week 11 matchup? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Nov 14, 2018 | SPORTS
Fight To Headline PBC On Fox PPV Event
Long thought to be a long shot, a huge contest between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing is official.
Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) will move up two weight classes to take on Errol Spence Jr. (24-0, 21 KOs) for the IBF welterweight title next year.
The fight is scheduled to take place on March 16th in Dallas, Texas at the AT&T Center, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Garcia, who last fought in July when he out-pointed Robert Easter Jr. by unanimous decision in a unification bout, has been highly interested in a fight with Errol Spence Jr.
Spence Jr. has mostly scoffed at Garcia wanting to fight him, expressing that it’s an easy fight if it happens but that he wouldn’t be opposed to fighting the much smaller Garcia.
In spite of the obvious size advantage coupled with Spence’s boxing skills and power, Garcia possesses boxing ability you can’t teach at this level.
He is an excellent counter puncher and sets up his shots without much effort, it’s a fight in which should test Spence’s mental as there could be times where Garcia appears to have a huge advantage in boxing technique and timing if Spence Jr. doesn’t make it a close quarters fight.
Are you excited for this fight? Leave your comments below!
by sloppyvinyl | Nov 13, 2018 | SPORTS
Bell Will Officially Sit Out 2018 Season
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell’s unprecedented stalemate has reached its climax.
Le’Veon Bell did not report to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, the last official day for him to, and will now be forced to sit out the remainder of the 2018 season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ disgruntled running back made it clear last season that he wasn’t going to play on a franchise tag again. The All-Pro back made eye-opening remarks about the limits he would go ensure that wouldn’t be the case, and he made good on those words.
This in all likelihood will end Le’Veon Bell’s playing career in the Steel City and will be something that is talked about for quite some time.
Whether Bell should’ve returned to the Steelers or not this season is a question no one can justifiably answer one way or another.
In my opinion, both sides come away winners from it, with pundits likely looking at the former Michigan State Alum as the loser because he turned down $14.5 million contract for this season.
Some had thought Bell would return as early as Week 8 following the Pittsburgh Steelers bye week, but with no such movement made, the rumblings that Bell could do the unthinkable became a reality,
A messy situation indeed, the only way to follow this from Le’Veon Bell’s side is through his social media behavior, which on Twitter appeared as if he would report today to the Steelers.
Bell watched the Steelers’ games, praised players like JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner and even left Miami where he spent much of this season working out to return to Pittsburgh, where he was spotted in a Pittsburgh gym last week.
Maybe the worst part about it for Bell is that no one forgets history and Twitter is constantly at work.
Ouch!
Did Le’Veon Bell make the right decision? Leave your comments below!