It's a Cubbies-Indians World Series

The Chicago Cubs have won the NLCS and will be playing Cleveland in the 2016 World Series.

Either way, an incredibly long World Series drought is going to end this year: 108 years for the Cubbies (last WS title: 1908); 68 years for the Indians (1948).

Cleveland Rocks! Indians through to the World Series.

At least one World Series pick made it through, even if it was ultimately a World Series loser.

Congratulations to the Cleveland Indians on winning the AL pennant.

The Indians' last World Series championship: 1948.
Their last pennant: 1997, when they lost to the then Florida Marlins (starting a trend where the Marlins win it all in years Mike graduated - high school in '97, college in '03).

Cleveland now awaits a winner between the Dodgers (last WS title was 1988) and Cubs (last was in 1908!).

Mike correctly picked Cleveland to make the World Series (only to lose to an already ousted Washington).

Natinals Choke! Mike, Batsu Game!

The Washington Nationals choked to the LA Dodgers in the NLDS 3 games to 2.

Mike had picked Washington in his adjustments.

Mike, BATSU GAME!

The punishment will be announced during our next session.

Baseball Giants Done! Tim, Batsu Game!

So much for the "every even year" theory.

The Chicago Cubs knocked out the San Francisco Baseball Giants 3 games to 1 in the NLDS.

Tim, playing on the coincidence that the Giants had won the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014, picked them to win it all during his All-Star Break adjustments.

Tim, BATSU GAME!

Tim's punishment will be announced during our next recording session.

Mike, who still needs to do karaoke for his batsu, is at risk for a second as Washington has been forced into a Game 5 in the NLDS by the LA Dodgers.  Let's go Nationals!

ALCS, by the way, will feature Cleveland and Toronto.

Episode 211 - What's Wrong with American Sports?

Today's episode of the podcast is a combination rant and potpourri focused on everything that is wrong with sports in the United States. 

Among the specific topics:
- The ongoing saga involving the NFL's LA situation, with a doomed-to-fail vote in San Diego and the league not being on board with the Raiders bettering their situation.
- NFL players protesting the National Anthem, which is their right under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
- NFL television ratings being down from past seasons.
- The Supreme Court passes on O'Bannon v. NCAA.
- NBA and NFL age limits.
- MLS and USL (with an assist from USSF) colluding to kill off NASL - in open defiance of FIFA bylaws regarding pro/rel.  This on the heels of FIFA really pressuring Australia on the very issue.
- A call for fan-owned teams.
- Comparing the US sports scene with the US political scene.
- The passing of golfer Arnold Palmer.
- Atlanta's troubling fixation with new stadiums.
- A plug for "Religion of Sports."

Fair use:
- Mike Lupica on the Bernie Miklasz radio program slamming Señor Stan (yes, that returns as well) and others like him (including Art Modell) for needlessly moving teams.
- Kyle Broflovski (South Park) joining Mike in calling shenanigans on a certain team's 3-1 record.
- Shep Messing on the need for pro/rel in North American soccer.
- "You have meddled with the primal forces of nature!  And YOU!!!  WILL!!!  Atone!!!"



Click here to download.

Episode 210 - 2016 MLB Review and Batsu Game

The MLB regular season is over, which gives the guys a chance to review the season.

For his Royals pick, Tim decided to use his Free Pass.

For his Cardinals pick, Mike will have to do karaoke of a Billy Joel song.

Both the Nationals (Mike) and Giants (Tim) are still in it... for now, so we're guaranteed at least one more batsu game from this baseball season.  Stay tuned.



Click here to download.

2016 MLB Prediction Check

So, how did the guys do with their 2016 MLB picks?

Division	Mike's Original Picks	Mike's Adjusted Picks	Tim's Original Picks	Tim's Adjusted Picks	Actual
NL East	NY Mets	Washington	NY Mets	Washington	Washington
NL Central	St. Louis	Chicago Cubs	Chicago Cubs	Chicago Cubs	Chicago Cubs
NL West	San Francisco	San Francisco	San Francisco	San Francisco	LA Dodgers
NL Wild Cards	Washington Chicago Cubs	St. Louis NY Mets	St. Louis Pittsburgh	St. Louis Pittsburgh	San Francisco NY Mets
AL East	Toronto	Baltimore	Boston	Toronto	Boston
AL Central	Kansas City	Cleveland	Kansas City	Kansas City	Cleveland
AL West	Houston	Houston	Houston	Houston	Texas
AL Wild Cards	LA Angels Detroit	Toronto Kansas City	Texas Toronto	Cleveland Texas	Toronto Baltimore
NL Champions	St. Louis	Washington	San Francisco	San Francisco	TBA October
AL Champions	Houston	Cleveland	Kansas City	Kansas City	TBA October
World Series Champions	St. Louis	Washington	Kansas City	San Francisco	TBA October/November

Mike's Original: 5/10
Mike's Adjusted: 7/10
Tim's Original: 6/10
Tim's Adjusted: 6/10

No batsu games will be issued for the picks, as Mike's sets of picks cancel each other out and Tim's picks are tied.

However, in addition to the already announce batsu game for Tim's pick of Kansas City, Mike gets a batsu game for his St. Louis pick.

Last Day of MLB Regular Season - 3 Playoff Spots Up For Grabs, 5 Teams Vying For Them

Today is the last day of the 2016 Major League Baseball regular season.

So far, 7 of the 10 playoff spots have been filled.  They are:

• NL East: Washington Nationals
• NL Central: Chicago Cubs
• NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers
• NL Wild Card 1: New York Mets
• AL East: Boston Red Sox
• AL Central: Cleveland Indians
• AL West: Texas Rangers

So, it's one NL Wild Card and both AL Wild Cards left open and five teams wanting in.

NL first:

• If the Giants win today over the Dodgers, they're in.
• The Cardinals need to beat Pittsburgh, then hope the Giants lose to LA (what incredible irony).  In this scenario, there would be an extra game between San Francisco and St. Louis.

The filling of this spot does trigger a batsu game either way, as Mike picked the Cardinals to win the World Series with his initial picks, while Tim picked the Giants to win in his adjustments.

AL now:

• In the event of a Detroit win over Atlanta, they will have to make up a game against Cleveland to put them in a possible three-way tiebreaker situation that also involved Baltimore and Toronto.  Such a scenario is pretty convoluted for this blog.
• If the Orioles beat the Yankees today, they're in.
• If the Blue Jays beat Boston today, they're in.

For better details, click here.

How does this affect picks?

- Aside from the aforementioned batsu game implications, all four sets of picks have the Cards and the Giants making the playoffs.  Either way, there's a guarantee of a hit across the board.
- On the AL side: of the three remaining teams, Tim picked only Toronto while Mike has a combination of all three still in play (Blue Jays and Tigers in his originals; Blue Jays and Orioles in his adjustments).  A Toronto loss would affect all sets of picks, but would be more negative for Tim.

As picks stand right now:
- Mike's original set has 3 confirmed correct with 4 pending today's results.
- Mike's adjusted set has 4 confirmed, 4 pending.
- Both of Tim's sets have 4 confirmed, 3 pending.

Here's hoping for an entertaining day of baseball and some solidification of the playoff picture.