Just Wondering ...

A Sunday on which the Jets don't play allows my mind to wander. This is either a good thing for you because my mind touches on lots of topics and maybe one or two will catch your interest, or a bad thing for you because you have to read them all. Here we go:

*I didn't really think the Angels would sweep and when they trailed late I actually thought, "Here we go again with the Angels unable to close out the Sox." I hope they win it all.

*The bad thing about an Angels sweep is Don Orsillo is probably done calling games. I hope the nation got a taste of what New England has been able to hear for almost a decade now - just how good of a play-by-play man he is. He has also improved as the years have gone on to get to where he is now - he had a rough first year (replacing a local favorite in Sean McDonough), and I remember his second game in the bigs was a no-hitter (I can't remember if it was Nomo or Lowe...I think Nomo in Baltimore) and he was so nervous it affected his call of the game. I also need to make clear that my liking of Orsillo is heavily influenced by how nice he was to me when we met a couple of times in 2003, when I was working in TV news, and he was showing up for our morning show to be an analyst. He could have been a jerk like 90% of the TV people I know...and I wouldn't really have blamed him because things did not go his way that post-season...but he was awesome. I have a soft spot for him ever since.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

U.S. Headed to the World Cup

When Julio Leon scored two minutes into the second half, it looked like it would be another tough World Cup Qualifying road match for the United States.

Instead, the US responded big time, as Conor Casey picked a great time to score his first two goals of his national team career and a goal off a set piece lifted the US to a 3-2 win over a feisty Honduras squad at Estadio Francisco Morazan at San Pedro Sula on Saturday night.

The win sends the US to its sixth straight World Cup and preserves its lead over Mexico in the CONCACAF Hexagonal standings. Honduras slips to fourth in the standings after Costa Rica's 4-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, so if the standings hold up, Honduras would be forced into a two-match playoff against the fifth place squad in CONMEBOL, which right now is Uruguay.

(Continue to Soccer 24-7)

Tennis News from the Orient

Novak Djokovic has won the ATP 500 in Beijing and is now certain to surpass Andy Murray, becoming the third best player in the ATP ranking. It was a “schizophrenic” final against Marin Cilic, with the Croat displaying flat groundstrokes with his feet well inside the backline.

But after an hour of rain delay the Djoker dashed and clinched the first set 6-2. The second set saw an alternation of breaks: 6 in all the match. Cilic near the net is quite disastrous and wasted an easy forehand to give Novak 3-3. Djoker lost serve twice in a row, but Cilic never succeeded in saving his and forcing the match to the third before losing the tiebreak.

Djokovic is now between the principal candidates for the victory at the Shanghai Masters 1000, where the Serb could clinch his fourth and most prestigious title of a not-so-memorable season. Anyway, Cilic failed to live up with the expectations, grew after he overpowered Nadal in the semifinals.

(Continue to ATP Tennis 360)

'Fins-Jets: A Memorable Rivalry

With all due respect to the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and even the Miami Dolphins' former AFC East playmates, the Indianapolis Colts, no team gets Dolphins' fans blood boiling more than the New York Jets.

It's a rivaly that goes back to the salad days of the AFL, when Joe Namath led the Jets on an upward climb that led to their only Super Bowl win in 1969, and the Dolphins were a struggling expansion franchise.

Monday night marks the 88th meeting between the teams, with the Jets holding a 46-40-1 overall edge, including a 13-5 mark against Miami this decade.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

No-Huddle Predictions

The Guru is going to try something different today, and the main reason is because we are less than three hours away from kickoff of the 1 p.m. games. So this is my version of the no-huddle offense, and I'm even going to break protocol this one time when it comes to the Dolphins.

Without any further delay, let's get the ball rolling:

Cleveland at Buffalo -- Ugh. Two teams headed in the same direction -- DOWN. Playing at home gives the Bills the edge in this never-to-be-seen-in-prime time match up.

Bills 16, Browns 13

Dallas at Kansas City -- Back-to-back losses to two AFC West non-juggernauts? Not in the cards for the Cowboys. Romo will snap out of it and DeMarcus Ware will make Matt Cassel wish he never left New England.

Cowboys 31, Chiefs 7

Minnesota at St. Louis -- Trap game? I think not. This one could get REAL ugly.

Vikings 45, Rams 14

(Continue to NFL Guru)

Just Another October

This happens to me every October.

I start to get real day-dreamy as I watch the playoffs, wondering what it would be like if my team was in the playoffs every year, battling it out for a chance at a world championship.

There's just so much mediocrity in my teams it's hard to wrap your head around it. The Phillies, thanks to the Mets' collapses, have won three straight division titles. In my lifetime (I'm 31) the Mets have won three division titles.

There's no such thing as "get 'em next year" in my sports life. Only once (once!) have the Mets made the post-season in back-to-back years. (1999-2000) There were plenty of 'should haves' (1987, 2007, 2008, close calls in 1998 and 2001), but that doesn't mean anything.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Ducks Continue Their Winning Ways

A month ago the Oregon Ducks season could have easily continued on a downward spiral. Boise State defeated them 19-8 and the Ducks star RB LeGuerret Blount was suspended for throwing a punch. The schedule after the Boise State disaster was Purdue at home followed by Utah at home. At that point most people would have written off the 2009 season for Oregon.

The Ducks were able to defeat Purdue 38-36, Oregon beat the 18th ranked Utah Utes 31-24 and they blasted #6 California 42-3 and climbed all the way back up to #13 in the AP Poll.

At the start of the season either Cal or Oregon was expected to challenge the USC Trojans for first place in the conference. Now that Cal is completely eliminated from the discussion the Ducks have put themselves in a great position with six games left to play.

(Continue to Inside the Pac-10)

Did Phil Just Seal the Cup?

Yes Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker are a big part of why the U.S. will go into Sunday's 12 singles matches with a three-point lead, but why the U.S. kept that three-point lead can be placed on the shoulders of Phil Mickelson.

Trailing the International team of Tim Clark and Vijay Singh all round, Mickelson rolled in a 40-foot putt, lasered in a brilliant approach on 16 to stay tied and all while getting little, if any, help from his playing partner, Sean O'Hair.

Michael Jordan's "project" hasn't faired too well and will need to step up tomorrow for his team. If O'Hair can right the ship and at least salvage a half in his match tomorrow, it would go a long way toward redeeming the Cup rookie's dismal performance so far.

(Continue to Par For the Course)

Mercury Rise to the Top

On Friday, the Phoenix Mercury secured a WNBA championship by defeating the Indiana Fever 94-86, in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. Diana Taurasi scored 26 points in the deciding game and won Finals MVP honors.

The Mercury overcame a 2-1 series deficit to claim the title. It's the Mercury's second WNBA title in three seasons. It's an impressive feat.

But is it the most impressive feat? Does this make the Mercury the best sports dynasty in Arizona history? Yes and yes.

Several professional sports franchises in Arizona have won on a consistent basis. The Phoenix Suns won 50-plus games four seasons in a row (2004-2008). The Arizona Cardinals advanced to the Super Bowl last season. The Arizona Diamondbacks, in 11 seasons, have four playoff appearances, including a World Series title in 2001. Every sports franchise in the state has enjoyed some type of success, but not every franchise has enjoyed the Mercury's level of success.

(Continue to Arizona Sportspage)

Predictions for NBA 2009-10

The 8th annual GM survey results were released earlier this week for the 2009-2010 NBA season.

While the general managers were on point with some calculations, they totally missed the mark on others.

Here are All Net’s 1st authentic predictions for the upcoming year.

Which team will win the NBA 2010 Finals? The Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kobe & Shaq (2001, 2002, 2003), D. Wade & Shaq (2006), LeBron & Shaq (2010).

Which team will win the Western Conference? The San Antonio Spurs.

The Big Three get big sparks from Richard Jefferson (above photo) and rookie DeJuan Blair and dethrone Lakers in Game 7 of Western finals.

(Continue to All Net)

Rush Limbaugh Isn't the Only Problem

There is absolutely no way the NFL can allow Dave Checketts to own a team.

No, you read that right. True enough, there’s no way it can allow Rush Limbaugh to own a team, and that cannot be emphasized enough nor played down in any way. Actually, I don’t even believe that Limbaugh will ever get close to it. Just as I don’t believe Limbaugh represents as large a percentage of America’s views on anything as he and his proponents want us to think, I don’t believe three-fourths of the other NFL owners will be swayed by whatever money Limbaugh brings into the bid for the St. Louis Rams’ ownership, into overlooking the damage this resolutely dangerous man will do to their select group, their league, their sport and its reputation.

You think the resistance to Michael Vick’s return was noisy? Just wait and see what happens if Limbaugh ever gets that far with the NFL. It's even got players, normally content to speak only when trash-talked to first, prepared to revolt.

(Continue to The Steele Drum)

Sports' Babe Ruth of Billionaires

It was reported by Forbes Magazine last week that Tiger Woods is a billionaire.

I'll wait...

Hmmm, nothing.

OK, let me type that again...It was reported by Forbes Magazine last week that Tiger Woods is a billionaire...

Hmmm, still nothing. Guess I didn't think there would be. I'm betting your reaction is somewhere in the ballpark of, 'Yeah, so what, pally?'

Am I right?

(Continue to The Grill Room)

Future of Newspapers' Sports Section

Real Sports: Frank Deford, left, and correspondents

Photo: HBO

Frank Deford’s "Paper Cuts" piece that aired Sept. 15 on HBO on Bryant Gumbel’s "Real Sports" program should give vendors of sports journalism plenty to chew over.

It did that for me, a former sports-section reporter and editor, confirming some conclusions I had come to years ago.

Here was the description of Deford’s piece from the Real Sports Web site:

As newspapers across the country struggle to maintain circulation and clout in the volatile world of digital media, sports editors at virtually every daily newspaper have made difficult decisions to reduce staff and pages. The result has been a mass exodus of top writers from some of America's most prestigious sports sections, which has reshaped the reporting and consumption of sports news and opinion. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated report, correspondent Frank Deford probes the decline of this great tradition and considers the prospects for newspaper sports sections in the new media environment.

(Continue to DMA 7-22 Sports)

Snead Next Up for Tide Beat Down

Jevan Snead, come on down. You’re the next highly regarded quarterback to take a crack at Alabama’s vaunted defense.

But first a word of warning: The other two took beat downs during their spin at the wheel.

Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor completed only 9-of-20 passes for 91 yards and was sacked five times as the Tide spanked the Hokies 34-24 to open the season.

Arkansas sophomore Ryan Mallett was coming off a record-setting performance against Georgia – 408 yards passing and five touchdowns – and was the nation’s top passer when he went up against the Tide two weeks ago. Alabama treated him rudely, holding Mallett to only 12 completions in 35 attempts for 160 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked three times as the Tide rolled to a 35-7 victory.

(Continue to Rue's Rant)

KU Needs Big Win for Respect

How about a little less drama this year?

A year ago Todd Reesing and the Jayhawks put up 35 points on Iowa St. in the second half. That should have been enough for an easy blowout. Instead, KU escaped with a 35-33 victory after trailing 20-0 at halftime.

This weekend, save the drama for playoff baseball.

If the 'Hawks do anything but blowout the Cyclones from the start, KU fans will be nervous heading to Boulder next weekend. It doesn't matter that Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins might not reach his goal of 10 wins this year -- or next. Nevermind the fact KU has gone 14-4 in its last 18 games against Big XII North opponents. If the Jayhawks struggle against a team that lost to Kansas State, the restlessness will begin to show with the KU faithful.

(Continue to Inside Jayhawk Nation)