GENERAL VIEWS ( 8th Edition )

Well it is fall and the trees are changing colors. The weather is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter and you see people outside raking leaves in their yard. What does this mean in the Sports World? THE WORLD SERIES IS HERE, THE FALL CLASSIC! The thing that the Boys of Summer play for and dream about. It has been a long Baseball season and we are finally down to our final two. Today I would like to look at The 2009 World Series between the defending World Series Champions the Philadelphia Phillies and the storied New York Yankees.

In Game 1 of the series at Yankee Stadium, the Phillies are going to start Left Hander Cliff Lee. Lee was acquired just before the trade deadline by Philadelphia from the Cleveland Indians. Cliff Lee is the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner and he went 7 and 4 with a 3.39 ERA down the stretch. The Yankees are going to start Left Hander CC Sabathia who went 19 and 8 with a 3.37 ERA this season. The interesting part about this pitching match-up is these two were teammates on the Cleveland Indians in 2007 and 2008. They are the last two American League Cy Young Award winners. Both pitchers have been great during the Post Season.

The World Series this year matches teams with explosive offenses with a lot of power. The two big name sluggers are Ryan Howard for the Phillies and Alex Rodriguez for the Yankees. I give the offensive advantage to the YANKEES. I rate both teams starting pitching as EVEN. The Bullpen advantage goes to the YANKEES. The Managers advantage goes to the PHILLIES. I look for this to be a very good World Series and I see the YANKEES WINNING IN SEVEN GAMES.

MID-SEASON REPORT CARD ON THE CLEMSON TIGERS

The Clemson offense has started showing some signs of life the last two weeks. I have to look at the season as a whole up to now. The young QB has struggled with consistency. The offensive line is getting better, but lacks the physicality that they need to have a consistent running game. The receiving corps, other than Jacoby Ford, needs to find some more play makers. The Tigers RBs have played pretty good at times, but they need to establish more play makers to help out C.J. Spiller. The Tigers TEs have played very good, especially the last couple of weeks as they have become more of an option with the offense. I give the Clemson Offense a Grade of.....
C-

The Clemson defense has played pretty good most of the season to this point. The defense has been dominant at times, had consistency lapses at times, two first half drives against Maryland comes to mind, they have given up a few big plays, against Georgia Tech and Miami, and they have failed to make a stop late in the game to preserve victory in the games that the Tigers lost. With the offensive struggles the Tigers have had, if it wasn't for their defensive play the Tigers would not have had a chance to win each of the games that they have played this season. So the defense has kept the Tigers in every game that they have played this season. Defense Grade...
B-

The Clemson special teams have been that, pretty special to this point. The kick off and punt return teams have been spectacular with CJ Spiller returning three kick offs and one punt for TDs so far this season. Jacoby Ford has returned a punt for a TD as well. If it wasn't for the special teams points the Tigers would not have won a couple of their games. The field goal kicking of Richard Jackson has been a very pleasant surprise as he has hit 17 for 23 with a couple over 50 yards. However, Jackson has missed 3 critical field goals this season with the game on the line in a couple of the Tigers losses. He missed one late against TCU when the Tigers were trying to win late in the 4th quarter. He also missed two kicks late in the 4th quarter that would have tied the game in their loss to Maryland. The punt coverage team had a couple of break downs against Georgia Tech that cost the team two scores, and they had a break down against Maryland that set up a 2nd half score. All in all the Special Teams Grade is a.....
B+

Overall the Tigers are 4 and 3 and they are 3 and 2 in the ACC and they control their own destiny, as they lead the Atlantic Division with three games to go. The bad loss to a bad Maryland team hurts the overall Grade of Clemson's season as I didn't see that one coming. The big win at Miami helps the Grade, but I did think before the season that a victory at Miami would be possible. I give the overall Mid-Season Grade to Clemson's season a.....
C

*********THE ARMCHAIR COACH GAME BALL OF THE WEEK goes to Clemson star C.J. Spiller for his 310 all-purpose yards in the Tigers upset of 8th Ranked Miami*********

DID YOU KNOW? The 310 all-purpose yards that C.J. Spiller had against Miami is a Clemson School record.

Until Friday.