Baseball and Football Notes

This weekend marked the end of the Major League Baseball regular season and some interesting football matchups, both college and pro. The Florida Gators were looking forward to playing the National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide in a payback revenge game (Bama won 32-13 in last year's SEC championship game), but their performance on the field in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night gave the impression that they were still out of the champs' league. UF made numerous crucial mistakes with turnovers, possibly making Alabama wonder why it needed to prepare that much for them. The final embarrassing score was Alabama 31, Florida 6. The Gators have a lot of work ahead of them if they really see themselves as the SEC East Division champions at the season's end.

In the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars took an improbable victory over the visiting Indianapolis Colts with an outstanding 59-yard field goal as time ran out to win 31-28. Tonight, the Chicago Bears have an potentially exciting game against the New York Giants. Potentially exciting because one never knows what to expect from Jay Cutler and Eli Manning, their two sometimes-brilliant and sometimes-not quarterbacks. And my Miami Dolphins are playing their old nemesis New England tomorrow night. A Miami victory could set a very positive tone for them for the rest of the season.

In baseball, the playoff picture wasn't finally settled until the games ended today, with Atlanta and San Francisco secured the final spots to accompany Cincinnati and Philadelphia into the post-season in the National League. In the American League, Tampa Bay won and the New York Yankees lost on Sunday, giving the Rays the East Division title as well as home field advantage throughout the league playoff. The Yanks will be the wild-card team. Minnesota and Texas had already secured their respective divisional titles.

For NL's the opening round of the playoffs, Atlanta starts off against San Francisco and Cincinnati against Philadelphia. I'm pulling for the Braves and Phillies to win their respective series. In the AL, Tampa Bay will first face off against Texas while New York plays the Twins. I'd like see the Rays and the Yankees win their opening series and play for the league championship.