NBA News: Cleveland Cavaliers sign PG Matthew Dellavedova
September 12, 2013Indians 14, White Sox 3: Sox Raburned Again
September 13, 2013While We’re Waiting is a space on the WaitingForNextYear website where we share links every day. We’ve been doing it for about four years or so. Denny Mayo used to be much more amusing with his intros, if you recall. You know the drill: Email us with suggestions at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
An optimistic take on the Indians’ playoff hopes: “The good news for Cleveland is that the difficult stretch is over. There are 17 games left on the Indians’ schedule, and aside from a three-game stand in Kansas City, the remaining teams are a gift from the baseball gods. It’s practically the reverse of what they just endured — whereas the only solace in the previous 15-game stretch was the Mets series, the Royals represent the only hardship between now and the end of the season. The rest reads like a wish list: White Sox (six games), Astros (four games), Twins (four games). The question is, how many games can they expect to win from the remainder?” [Shane Ryan/Grantland]
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Here’s an opportunity for everyone to contribute to Terry Pluto and Tom Hamilton’s new book about the ’90s Indians. Click here to add your stories.
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Oh hey. A Cleveland athlete supporting another Cleveland sports team. It’s that simple, right? “Soon after he touched back down in the 216, he threw on a Cleveland Indians jersey and went out to support the Tribe. On Tuesday night, Thompson was among the 12,615 fans in attendance as Cleveland battled for a playoff spot against the Kansas City Royals.” [Brendan Bowers/Stepien Rules]
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Fun article (of course, because of the site) on things that football fans pretend that they know: “6. The ‘West Coast Offense.’ What you think it means: ‘Basically you pass a lot. And something about Bill Walsh.’ What it actually means: Not too far from that? It’s about establishing a short, quick passing game to open up space for longer passes.” [Alex Naidus/BuzzFeed]
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My dad asked last night: Can we expect the Browns to top the Indians’ score from last night? I think so, but we’ll see: “Last week the Ravens defense was torn up by Peyton Manning and the Broncos and seemed to be embarrassed. The only way Manning and Browns’ QB Brandon Weeden belonging in the same sentence is they both are currently starting QBs in the NFL. Weeden does not have the skill, football understanding or weapons to have similar results against the Ravens, especially after their opening performance…” [Jared Mueller/Factory of Sadness]
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Good take on a true fact about the impending summer of LeBron in 2014: “I don’t need to rehash what he said, except for the three words that his response could’ve been boiled down to — the only three words that he should use to answer a question that, here on Sept. 12, 2013 and for the foreseeable future, has no other answer. I don’t know. LeBron James doesn’t know what he’s going to do on July 1, 2014, when he has the negotiated ability to exercise an early-termination option in his contract and make 2010 happen all over again. He doesn’t know, because he can’t possibly know.” [Ken Berger/CBS Sports]
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An interesting take on a topic I shared here at WFNY on Wednesday: Who could be the next Chip Kelly in college football? “The three top contenders: *Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M The hottest name in college-to-NFL coaching, even before Chipmania. Remarkable: In his first year at Texas A&M (and the Aggies’ first year in the SEC), he led them to a remarkable 11-2 record, including the signature win of the season, beating Alabama at Alabama. Strategic: Across his entire coaching career, his offenses have been among the best in the country.” [Dan Shanoff/Quickish]
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This was a very detailed offseason report card for the Cavaliers. Defense and the frontcourt still remain serious issues. Here’s the first paragraph of the summary: “Dion Waiters had some folks worried early in his rookie season but settled in later, and the Cavaliers will hope that Bennett does the same. He wasn’t expected to be the draft’s top pick, but now faces some pressure to live up to that status. That needs to not be a whiff for Cleveland.” [Steve Aschburner/NBA.com]
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Article the other day from an old WFNY friend on the Buckeyes quarterback situation: “One is practically a household name and one is the son of a Texas high school football coach. One is a potential Heisman candidate and one is who Ohio State coach Urban Meyer playfully calls “the old right hander” or just simply “coach.” One is Braxton Miller, his unquestionable starter at quarterback. One is Kenny Guiton, his more-than-serviceable backup.” [Patrick Maks/BuckeyeGrove.com]
12 Comments
an absolute gem of a scenario comes out of that article. I would love this (especially if we managed to navigate it):
“Unfortunately for Cleveland in that crazy three-way tie scenario, they
have a losing record against both the Yankees and Rays, and so would
have to beat both teams in a single elimination game consecutively just
to have a chance to face Texas in the wild-card game just to advance to
face Boston in the divisional round.”
If two teams are tied for the last spot, do they play a game or is it up to head to head? I thought it was head to head regular season. NYY owns CLE, but TB owns CLE and NYY in head to head unless NYY sweep them last series.
Sounds like we better end in the lead and not be tied with anyone, huh?
Texas may end up being the team that falls out of their wild card spot by the end. They still have a 4-game series at the Rays, as well as a series versus the A’s and at the Royals.
you play the game. it’s why it’s a beautiful system and one of the few things that Selig got right (likely not from him at all). you have the ending days of the regular season treated as playoffs, then you have a possibility of a bunch of mini-playoff games, then the real playoffs.
baseball with real consequences is dramatic and fantastic. I actually am cheering for this scenario as it’d be a ton of fun if we win those games.
Full Info::: MLB Tiebreaking Procedures :::Lot’s of fun possibilities
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130904&content_id=59527184&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
(I would post the text except it’s over 2500 words)
I have a bet with a friend that the Yankees will not make playoffs (made it before the seaon). He is trying to say that if this scenario happens, he wins. I told him these are elimination games and the winner makes the playoffs as the WC team. what do you think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7fjDS0jKiE
the text on MLB is pretty clear that the tiebreaker games are to determine who makes the playoffs (and thus, are not in the playoffs):
“Once again, the regular season seems headed toward an exciting ending, with playoff spots not decided until the final day. Or beyond.”
however, it might be a bit friendlier to decide that the tiebreaker scenarios result in a “push”
There are no pushes when it comes to NYY
well, A-Rod once pushed a ball out of Arroyo’s glove
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxPNcrvR46Q
Essentially a 4-team, single elimination tournament to determine the last spot in the 4 team playoff for the pennant would be ridiculously fantastic. Talk about must-see tv!