Happy Friday

Good Friday Morning to all. Tons of good stuff to write, errrrr, blog about (and link to).

The National League Playoff Hunt And to think that some people thought the Wild Card concept in baseball was bad, wrong and just evil. There are SEVEN(!) teams still with a legitimate chance to be playing fall ball in October. Nearest and dearest, of course, are Your Philadelphia Phillies. Only two weeks ago, the Phillies trailed the New York Mets by SEVEN(!) games. This morning, they are both tied for first. (They are also both one game behind the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card.) Tonight, the Phillies send Cole Hamels against the Nationals, while the Mets send Oliver Perez against the Marlins. Tomorrow, the Phillies will trot out Adam Eaton, while the Mets will run out John Maine. Sunday, the Phillies will go with Jamie Moyer and the Mets will counter with Tom Glavine.

The pitching match ups favor the Mets. Big Time. If the Phillies lose ground tonight (with Hamels on the hill), they are in serious trouble. And with Eaton pitching tomorrow, you can bet that every pitcher not named Hamels will be in the 'pen ready to go when (certainly not if) Eaton gets into trouble.


While the pitching match ups favor the Mets, that's about all they have in their corner. They have lost four in a row and their offense is on the skids and their bullpen is actually worse than the Phillies -- a feat that is hard to fathom.

Kyle Kendrick = Bob Walk? Walk was the kid who helped the Phillies get to the playoffs (along with Hard Marty Bystrom) back in 1980. No one projected him to even make the team coming out of spring training. No one even knew who Kenrick was in spring training this season. He was at AA with mediocre numbers and got a call-up because the Phillies needed a live body to give some innings to their injury-riddled staff. Without Kendrick, the Phillies would be playing minor league kids, getting ready for yet another off-season of failed hopes. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin, who Knows All about the Phillies, recently wrote about the Kendrick-Walk connection. To read the piece, click here.

West Virginia faces a HUGE test tonight at South Florida. Now, how strange does that sound? WVA, ranked fifth in the country, plays the undefeated and 18th ranked Bulls on ESPN2. The Bulls have been around for a whopping THREE(!) years. Two weeks ago, they slapped Auburn on the road, 26-23. Last week, they dominated North Carolina 37-10. A loss will end the Mountaineers' National Championship hopes. A win puts them in position to move up in the polls next weekend when LSU and Florida, ranked second and third, respectively, battle.

In an unrelated, but very funny story, WVA's Big Gun (or one of their Big Guns) Steve Slaton "almost fainted" when he had an encounter with ESPN Babe Erin Andrews.

Let's Get Academic (if only for a minute). Great article this week in the Boston Globe business section on Red Sox owner John Henry. Any column that makes reference to Jay Gatsby, is definitely worth reading.
Wondering who Gatsby is? Fret not.

OK, One More Academic Note. Great story about a High school principal who tackled his school's summer reading list over the summer. Did you read 15 books in eight weeks? Didn't think so. But this guy did.

Knight Rider Returns! Two questions -- will Hasselhoff be on the show? Will he sport the leather jacket?

NYT Loves A.D. The esteemed New York Times ran a great piece on NFL Rookie of the Year Shoe-In Adrian Peterson. A.D. went to OU, which means we think he's more than OK.

New England Patriots to Go Undefeated? We don't know (yet). But if they do, what will the 1972 Miami Dolphins do? Boston Globe funny guy Dan Shaughnessy contemplated that question last week. He wrote: "Weight-loss commercial star Don Shula and some members of his 1972 Dolphins will be punished by Roger Goodell for videotaping Patriot coaches from the stands and sending the tapes the Indianapolis Colts." Click HERE to read the rest.