World Series MVP David Freese Leads Comeback Cardinals to 11th Title
The St. Louis Cardinals are resilient, but I didn’t have to tell you that.
This team was disregarded by virtually everyone after falling to 10.5 games out of the Wild Card as late as August 26.
The Cardinals were counted out once again Thursday night on two different occasions, each time being a strike away (while two runs down) from elimination. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Stanford Writers
One week after posting its biggest win in the Lane Kiffin era, USC will be asked to one-up its performance against Stanford, the No. 4 team in the nation according to the latest Associated Press ranking.
The mighty Cardinal come to town with a flawless 7-0 record. In fact, they are dominating opponents, winning each game by an average of 36 points.
Most recently, the Cardinal defeated a Top 25 opponent, the Washington Huskies, by a whopping 44 points (65-21 final).
Stanford was able to contain the Huskies’ impressive passing attack, holding quarterback Keith Price to just 1 touchdown–significantly less than his average of 3.5 touchdown passes per game.
For their part, the Cardinal offense really came to play, and ironically, it was not Heisman candidate quarterback Andrew Luck who did most of the damage. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Notre Dame Writers
In the latest chapter of one of the greatest rivalries in college football, the USC Trojans will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this Saturday in South Bend, Indiana.
Neither USC nor Notre Dame is ranked in the Top 25, but that fact has done very little to diminish the immense excitement leading up to the game.
Both teams are playing well heading into the rivalry game.
The Irish have won four straight games, including their latest victory, nearly two weeks ago, over Air Force by a score of 59-33. Sophomore quarterback Tommy Rees threw four first half touchdowns, giving his team a 42-16 halftime lead, which they would not relinquish.
Last Thursday, The Trojans defeated the Cal Golden Bears 30-9. Although Cal outgained the Trojans 329 yards to 313, USC was able to force five turnovers en route to the win. Read more >>
2011 World Series Preview
Mighty Offenses Will Collide as Cardinals and Rangers Meet
The Texas Rangers will battle the St. Louis Cardinals for baseball’s biggest prize in a best of seven series beginning Wednesday night.
Quite honestly, not many analysts saw this coming.
Before the season, the Phillies-Red Sox and Phillies-Yankees were the most common World Series predictions. Those teams were widely regarded as being loaded with top talent.
The Texas Rangers were, last year’s American League champions, but in the offseason they lost talented southpaw pitcher Cliff Lee and 115-RBI man Vladimir Guerrero, among others. There was little question whether or not the deep Ranger line-up would shine, but their starting rotation (minus Lee) was seen as a major concern.
Even as recently as August 25, the St. Louis Cardinals found themselves third in the NL wild card race, 10.5 games behind the leading Atlanta Braves. At that point, even the Giants were a game in front of the Cardinals. Many gave up on the Cards. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Cal Golden Bears Writer
Twelve days after USC defeated the Arizona Wildcats 48-41, it will take on the California Golden Bears in a nationally televised game Thursday night.
In two consecutive weeks, Cal’s defense has struggled on the road.
Most recently, the Bears surrendered more than 350 rushing yards to the Oregon Ducks. In a game in which the Bears led 15-14 at the half, the Ducks shut them out in the second half to earn a 43-15 win.
In the Trojans’ last contest, Matt Barkley set a school-record for passing yards with 468. For his part, receiver Robert Woods nabbed 14 catches for 255 yards and two touchdowns.
Unfortunately for USC, it would need every bit of those 48 points, because its secondary was atrocious, allowing Nick Foles to throw for 425 passing yards and four touchdowns. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Utah And ASU Writers
After defeating the Arizona Wildcats in a high-scoring affair last Saturday, the Trojans won’t be playing this week.
In the win over the Wildcats, Matt Barkley passed for a school-record 468 yards, but the Trojan secondary was burned for 425 yards. Like Barkley, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles threw for four touchdowns.
Because the Trojans are off, I’ve decided to go behind enemy lines twice this week in the hopes of covering both sides of the upcoming ASU-Utah match up.
The Trojans have played both of these Pac-12 South schools this season. In fact, both games were very close until the Sun Devils exploded for 22 unanswered points to close out their win in Tempe.
On Saturday, the Utes (2-2, 0-2 conference) will have to play without their starting quarterback Jordan Wynn, who injured his left shoulder in last week’s loss to the Washington Huskies.
The Sun Devils come into the game with a 4-1 record (2-0 in conference), but they have only won four of their last 17 road games, dating back to 2008. Read more >>
WNBA Finals Preview
Efficient Minnesota Lynx Take On Prepared Atlanta Dream
The Minneota Lynx aren’t used to this. Lynx Owner Glen Taylor isn’t used to this.
Under Taylor’s ownership, the team had only made two playoff appearances with a single postseason win to their credit. This year alone, the Lynx have already recorded four playoff victories heading into the WNBA finals, where they will meet the Atlanta Dream.
Atlanta, on the other hand, is a little more accustomed to this type of postseason success. This year’s Finals appearance marks the second straight for the Dream, who lost to the Seattle Storm in last season’s championship series. Read more >>