Six month countdown

Now that the Padres have ended their season, the countdown to 2016 begins. A lot has to be done in-between now and then. A new manager must be hired and the roster needs improvement like I have talked about in the past. This past Sunday capped off a sweep of the Padres in Chavez Ravine. Greinke and Kershaw both dominated the Padres and our pitching let us down not only during the series, but during the whole entire season. Frankly, I am glad the season is over. However, I do fear what next season will bring. We need to restock the minor league system and come up with prospects that will actually produce winning teams. I look at the St. Louis Cardinals and wonder how they do it every year. After injuries all across the roster, they still come up with backup players that perform to the level of their predecessor. One example in particular is when the legendary Albert Pujols left to go to the Angels, Matt Adams (seemingly a no name to most baseball fans) took the reigns and did so quite successfully. And then the team keeps winning, reaching the postseason year in and year out and winning world series championships every few years. Maybe it's management, maybe it's ownership, or maybe it's just St. Louis. Would the Cardinals win if you flipped the 25-man roster of the Padres and switched cities? I am confident they would. Meanwhile, the playoffs are underway and the Astros and Cubs won their respective one-game duels. Now the drama is beginning to unfold. Arguably the favorite to win it all this year, Toronto has fallen behind the Texas Rangers 2-0 in the series headed back to Texas. The Astros are tied with the Royals 1-1 in their series headed back to Houston and the two National league divisional series have yet to begin between the Cubs and those Cardinals and then later with the Mets taking on the Dodgers.

In college football, the fun begins. Last week, the big games turned into big games. Unexpected, right? Florida demolished Ole Miss 38-10, while Ohio State squeaked by Indiana 34-27. The biggest game of the night, however, was the game of Notre Dame taking on Clemson. The Tigers took control of the game early while Notre Dame slowly yet surely made their way back into it. The Fighting Irish had the chance to tie the game on a last-second two point conversion, but it was not converted and the Tigers walked away victoriously. Many thought that the game conditions would make the game impossible to play due to the fact that Hurricane Joaquin was moving its way up the east coast, bringing with it lots of rain and flooding. In fact, so much flooding occurred in Columbia, South Carolina that the Gamecock's game against the Bayou Bengals of LSU has been moved to Baton Rouge. So this will be an away game for the home team. Here is your list of top games for the weekend:
-13Northwestern vs. 18Michigan, 3:30 ET on the Big Ten Network
-7LSU vs. South Carolina, 3:30 ET, ESPN
-23California vs. 5Utah, 10 ET, ESPN

The NFL has shown some excitement this week as well. Teams that were once playoff teams and relevant at the beginning of the year are morphing into non-contenders. This includes teams like the Chargers, Saints, Dolphins and 49ers. There are also those that were once non-contenders that are now serious contenders such as the Panthers, Falcons and Cardinals. And then there are those that are always talented and contending like the Patriots, Steelers, Packers and Seahawks, to name a few. The politics of this league can be either the most entertaining part or the most boring part, depending on your perspective. Hold tight as we see who hold on by the end of the year. I will be sure to post about this league each week until the final play of the super bowl.