The Dugout - September 30
DEEEEREEK JEEEEE-TER
An era ended this week. Derek Jeter retired. He’s been wearing the number 2 and kitting up for the Yankees for as long as many people can remember but this week we saw his final bow. And it was a fitting one.
This whole season has been a bit of a victory lap for the 14 time All Star, picking up gifts and tidings every city he visited. His last game at Yankee Stadium ended exactly how it should have. It’s not often that the greats get to end their careers in a way that befits the icons that they are. The tendency is to go too far, to play too long. And Jeter only averaged .256 this season, with a measly 4 homers. So maybe he falls into that category too, but then this is one of the great clutch hitters of his generation and he came through when we were all watching.
A walk off RBI single. Lovely. Then in his absolute final at-bat, which in a nice piece of reverse-symmetry was at Fenway Park, he drove in a run with an infield single, his 3465th and final Major League hit. Cracking stuff.
NFL Week 4
Over to the National Football League where lots of stuff happened!
We’ll begin with Eli Manning having his best game in ages to lead the Giants to a dominant win over the Washington Pro Football Team. He threw 4 TD passes and even ran in for another, his first rushing TD since 2011. Add to that he had 0 interceptions and that’s a nice day at the grassy office. Kirk Cousins threw 5 picks, so not as good on his part…
Aaron Rodgers had an amazing game himself, leading the Packers to a big win over the Bears, big in margin and importance. Jordy Nelson was superb too, catching 10 passes. Staying on that note, Andrew Luck saw the Colts past the Titans with ease and Ryan Tannehill finally put one together, albeit against the Oakland Raiders. That game was in London at Wembley Stadium, and it’s unlikely it’ll reach too many new fans.
The Chargers were predictably too much for the Jaguars, with Blake Bortles doing some nice things and some inexperienced things in his first start as The Man in Jacksonville. Teddy Bridgewater was very impressive for Minnesota however. The rookie threw for 317 yards and ran for a TD too before coming off hurt late on. The Vikings took the upset win in that one, despite the efforts of the Atlanta offence. The Falcons just couldn’t stop the run.
The Buccaneers rallied for their first win of the season. Mike Glennon leading them past the Steelers with a final drive, converting the winning TD with 7 seconds left to Vincent Jackson after starting on the Steelers 46 down by 4 with 40 secs to play and no timeouts. The Steelers blew that one big time.
Credit to the Dallas Cowboys too. The Cowboys were brilliant on all fronts in the first half against the Saints, and kept Drew Brees’ late rally at bay. DeMarco Murray was superb and they even got some plays on defence. Quite a way to atone for the unprecedented drilling the Saints gave them the last time they met. The Ravens blew past the Panthers as well, while the 49ers were lucky to hang on against an Eagles team that couldn’t buy a trick on offence, only crossing half way 3 times. But they had 3 return TDs and San Fran once more struggled to put points on the board in the fourth quarter.
The Lions also beat the Jets, despite a rare off day from Calvin Johnson. Geno Smith got booed and slagged from the friendly New York home crowd, even sending some profanity back their way. Naughty boy.
And in the Monday night game, the Chiefs smashed the Patriots. Smashed them, I tell you.
All-Time MLB Hit List:
- Pete Rose – 4256
- Ty Cobb – 3771
- Hank Aaron – 3771
- Stan Musial – 3630
- Tris Speaker – 3514
- Derek Jeter – 3465
MLB Playoffs
Ooh, it’s that time! Time to start actually caring about the day to day results of baseball games. Seriously, baseball has such a marketing problem like that. Just look at any postseason ad on ESPN and tell me it doesn’t sound like they’re apologising for everything that came beforehand. Well, it’s not working on me, MLB… because my Texas Rangers missed the cut by a looong way.
At least that saves me from another year where they lose one game and their playoffs are over. That’ll be the case for two sorry buggers, with Oakland taking on Kansas City and San Francisco at Pittsburgh. The A’s have a terrible record in must win games, blame it on moneyball or whatever, while KC are just thankful to have made it this far. Then you have a potential nail-biter in the NL. The Pirates made a run last time, while this Giants side still has plenty of World Series winning talent. The games are on Wed & Thu afternoon New Zealand time. This time next week we'll be waist deep in the Division Series!
Steven Adams Gets Into the Spirit of NBA Media Day
So Does Monta Ellis
(LM Otero/AP)
Quote of the Week:
"I believe Russell is the best point guard in basketball. That's happened over time. I've seen Russell every practice, every game, every film session, and he's really put a lot of time into being the best point guard in basketball."
Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder Coach
Presumably Doc Rivers thinks that Chris Paul deserves that label and Steve Kerr thinks that Steph Curry deserves it. It’s called perspective. For the record, Russell Westbrook has said he agrees with his coach’s comments.
Nightmarish Vision of the Week:
Yes, folks. This is Jerry Jones smiling. Behind those teeth live a thousand devilish horrors just waiting to be unleashed upon the world like Pandora’s Box should Jones ever laugh… Now you all know that whenever Tony Romo throws an interception, it’s for all of our benefits. Like Bruce Willis sacrificing himself at the end of Armageddon for the sake of the planet. Thank you, Tony. Your selfless generosity will not go unnoticed.
Good Week:
Jordan Zimmerman (Washington Nationals) – On account of throwing the franchise’s first ever no-hitter. 10 strikeouts, 1 walk and this on the final day of the regular season. It wouldn’t have happened though, but for Steven Souza’s thrilling catch for the final out.
DeMarco Murray (Dallas Cowboys) – The Cowboys have won 3 of their first 4 games for the first time since 2008 and the main reason for that is… well the defence has been pretty good, but also the offence is so much more balanced. Murray is getting his hands on the ball early and often and he’s rewarding them for the faith. 100+ rush yards in each game so far, he leads the league in total rush yards too. Only Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith have ever had 4 consecutive 100+ rushing games for the Cowboys. That’s some straight up franchise royalty there.
Steve Smith Sr (Baltimore Ravens) – Against his old team, Smithy had 7 receptions for 2 touchdowns and 139 yards. He skinned the Panthers alive and made taxidermy out of their hides. He’s known as Steve Smith Senior now because he named his kid after himself, which is a bit presumptuous but all good.
Bad Week:
EJ Manuel (Buffalo Bills) – The second year QB has lost his starting spot to Kyle Orton after a terrible start to the season. Seriously, he’s been awful.
Dennis Allen (Oakland Raiders) – Not with the Oakland Raiders anymore, you’re fired son. Coaching a team to an 0-4 start will do that to you.
Arizona Diamondbacks – With 64 wins they officially had the worst season in baseball for 2014. Guts.
Player of the Week:
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers) – Immaculate. Quarterbacks just can’t play much better than this. He fired back at all the critics with his best single game QBR in his career (99.0), with 22-28 passing for 302 yards and 4 touchdowns.They actually called this one back for a foul but it was logic-defying all the same:
Upcoming Dates (NZ Time):
October 22 - MLB World Series Begins
October 29 - NBA Regular Season Begins
January 4 - NFL Playoffs Begin