Archive for October 19th, 2009

WATERCOOLER CHAT: PHILLIES WIN, BREES ON FIRE, BRADY BACK

BASEBALL

In baseball playoffs, with the National League Championship Series tied,  the onus was on the Philadelphia Phillies to win their first home game.  This way, you take a stand that you will NOT be beaten in your house, no matter how good your opponent is.  Well, the Phillies definitely answered that call.  They absolutely trounced the LA Dodgers!  Cliff Lee, mid-season acquisition and former Cy Young Award winner, took the mound for Philly.  And he was simply terrific — pitching 8 innings, giving up only 3 hits, and striking out 10 Dodgers.  Wow!  The Dodgers put, count ’em, 0 runs.  They couldn’t do squat against Lee.  Meanwhile, however, the Phils were on fire.  Jayson Werth got his first NLCS homer (a 2-run shot), and Shane Victorino homered in the 8th for 3 more runs.  The Phils now have a 2-1 lead on the Dodgers.  Philadelphia 11, LA Dodgers 0.

FOOTBALL

In football, all eyes were on the marquee matchup between two undefeated teams in what could possibly be a NFC Championship preview:  The New York Giants and the New Orlean Saints.  The game was in New Orleans’ Superdome, giving the Saints a bit of an edge, but Giants QB Eli Manning is best when he doesn’t have to worry about weather conditions.  With that said, it was not his day.  Manning threw for a paltry 178 yards and 1 TD.  Meanwhile, however, Dree Brees went off!  The Saints scored on their first 4 possessions, and Brees finished the day with 369 yards and 4TDs.  Incredible.  The Saints remain unbeaten, and the Giants will have to go back to the drawing board.  New Orleans 48, NY Giants 27.

Elsewhere, in New England, the electric Tom Brady powered offense was back FULL FORCE.  The Patriots have been slow out of the gate, but they got the opportunity to play the Tennessee Titans in the snow (the Pats are used to it, the Titans are not).  And Brady was simply unstoppable.  In the first half alone, he threw for 5 touchdowns, and they didn’t even even bench him at the half up 45-0.  Nope, he threw one more touchdown, bringing his end of day stats to 380 yards and 6 touchdowns.  People… that was essentially in half.  If they would have left him in aginst an awful, snowdazed Titans defense, he very well could have thrown 10 touchdowns and 700 yards.  Looks like the Pats of ’07 might just be back.  New England 59, Tennessee 0.

And, the biggest story of the day in the NFL… the Oakland Raiders.  The Raiders have been abysmal this season, showing no concern for their woes, pitiful anti-progress, or genuine apathy towards winning.  The Philadelphia Eagles came to town and were expected to serve up a whooping like other teams.  But, all the sudden, the Raiders jumped out to an early lead thanks to an 86 yard pass from JaMarcus Russell to Tight End Zach Miller.  Whoa, the Raiders are winning??!!  Surely, it was a fluke, and the Eagles would put up 21 straight points, right?  Nope, the Raiders defense showed up too, and Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb couldn’t get anything going.  Finally, the whistle blew, and the Raiders had won the game!!  What?????!!!!  They’re still bad, but, oddly, they’re 2-4.  2 more wins and they’re at 500.  Could the Raiders really turn it around???  Oakland 13, Philadelphia 9.

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