Archive for November 1st, 2011

WATERCOOLER CHAT: LARUSSA RETIRES, CC TO HUGE DEAL, RIVERS BOTCHES SNAP FOR KC WIN

BASEBALL

After 33 years of tremendous coaching, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa is finally hanging it up.  And he couldn’t have gone out any higher — winning the World Series in Game 7 as his last game.  LaRussa spent his career with 3 teams — the Chicago White Sox, Oakland A’s, and St. Louis Cardinals, and he had success in each and every location. LaRussa was the type of manager who was extremely meticulous.  He didn’t care if the game took 4 hours, he would drag it out if it met his strategy.  Those in the Cardinals organization said that LaRussa looked ‘relaxed’ during the 2011 post-season — probably because he knew it was all coming to an end; that he didn’t have to worry about a contract re-signing or anything like that.  All he had to do was focus on winning the World Series… and he did.  Experts call him the greatest manager of his era.  It was LaRussa who pretty much started the 3-out save trend — thus creating the type of rock stars that come out in the 9th inning to win the game to thunderous applause.  Baseball will miss him.

And elsewhere in baseball, the Yankees may have fallen short in the post-season, losing to the Detroit Tigers in 5 games.  But, you can’t deny their dominance over the course of the season.  They were destined for the World Series, they just had a bad stretch and fell too far behind.  They’re not second-guessing themselves heading into the 2012 season, as they’ve just inked their ace pitcher, C.C. Sabathia, to a HUGE deal.  Sabathia will remain a Yankee for at least the next 5-years, signing for a deal worth $122 million.  You can’t blame the Yankees — when you’ve got a guy as dominant as C.C., AND you can pay him… you keep him.  Sabathia is their first re-signing, and you can most likely expect other free agents to join the squad.  And remember — the best player in baseball, Albert Pujols, is a free agent too.

FOOTBALL

Finally, in Monday Night Football, it was the San Diego Chargers heading into Kansas City for a Halloween game.  The Chargers are currently atop the AFC West and looked to roll over the Chiefs, but the Chiefs fans packed the stadium, and typically thrive when they’re on Monday Night.  Even last season, in the rain, the Chiefs hammered the Chargers in KC on Monday Night Football.  The Chargers came out looking absolutely terrible.  They couldn’t convert first downs, and Philip Rivers was throwing picks.  The score was 13-3 heading into halftime.  But, in the second, the Chargers came back, even tying the game at 20 in the 4th quarter.  And then, Philip Rivers marched down the field with just about 2 minutes left and looked in position to win it, except… Rivers botched a snap, and KC recovered, which sent the game to overtime.  The Chargers looked dead again in OT, and the Chiefs, behind Matt Cassel and undrafted running-back Jackie Battle stormed down the field, setting up a Ryan Succop field goal to win the game.  So the Chiefs, who started 0-3, are now 4-3 and looking towards the playoffs.  Kansas City 23, San Diego 20.
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