FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it was Thursday Night Football between the NY Jets and the Denver Broncos.  This was an important game for both teams with playoff implications.  The Jets have been slipping lately and the Broncos have been on the rise ever since they inserted Tim Tebow as their starting quarterback.  But could Tebow summon the magic against a very tough Jets defense?  Not at first.  The Broncos had trouble getting their offense going.  Fortunately for Denver, so did the Jets. Sanchez just couldn’t get in the groove.  But the Jets still held a 13-10 heading into the final 5 minutes.  And then… it was Tebow time.  Using their versatile option and rushing attack, Tebow marched the Broncos down the field into the red zone.  And then, Tebow went for it, rushing past their defense, breaking a tackle, and getting into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown.  Truly awesome!  The Denver crowd went crazy and Tebow was the hero again.  Denver 17, NY Jets 13.

BASEBALL

Elsewhere, in baseball, new Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein has hit the ground running turning around the franchise.  The first thing necessary to having a strong team, is strong leadership.  So the manager search began.   They looked at Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddox and Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr., but eventually settled on Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum.  The Brewers had a clutch hitting season, and much of that credit should go to Sveum.  Other players have said that he knows how to read players.  That he isn’t just necessarily interested in being their best friend, but he knows what they’re thinking.  All baseball experts agree that this is a good pick and a good start for the hopefully new Cubs era.

Finally, in some more baseball news, baseball has approved the sale of the Houston Astros to multi-millionaire Jim Crane.  However, there was once exception, and Crane didn’t exactly like it.  In order to acquire the Astros, Crane had to move them to the American League West.  Crane said he simply likes National League baseball better because the pitcher has to hit.  This adds more strategy to the game, as managers have to delicately watch a pitcher’s pitch count, and make seriously calculated decisions of what to do with them at bat.  However, a move to the American League gives them great rivalry showdowns with the Texas Rangers.  Texas, of course, has been dominate the last 2 seasons, because they now have the money to spend on fantastic players.  They should be a contender for a while.  But the Astros… they’re revenue has been dwindling the last few seasons because they’ve been horrible.  Hopefully, playing in the American League and bringing in a host of new opponents will boost attendance and thus revenue.  How fast can the Astros rebound?