WATERCOOLER CHAT: TIGERS IN, YANKS OUT OF POST SEASON, BUCS BENCH FREEMAN, TIGER STADIUM MAKES NOISE
BASEBALL
The Detroit Tigers have clinched their 3rd straight AL Central title. This team always looks good headed into the post-season, and consistently poses a threat to reach the World Series. Plus, they boast arguably the best player in the league in Miguel Cabrera. However, Cabrera is nursing some injuries now, and if he goes down, the Tigers may go right along with him. Elsewhere in baseball, the NY Yankees have been officially eliminated from the post-season. Here’s an amazing stat: This is only the 2nd time in 19 years that the Yankees have missed the playoffs. That goes to show you just how powerful this team is. Even without the Yanks though, we are headed toward a very exciting post-season filled with some young talent and exciting new faces (Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, A’s). It’s going to be a blast!
FOOTBALL
In the NFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear to be in disarray. They are 0-3, and many reports say that the team is not getting along with each other — namely the relationship between head coach Greg Schiano and quarterback Josh Freeman. On Wednesday, Schiano publicly announced that he was benching Freeman in favor of rookie QB Mike Glennon from North Carolina State. The Bucs grabbed Glennon early in the draft, and are hoping that he can turn the ship around. In a press release from the Bucs front office, they said that this league is all about finding that franchise QB, and that they don’t think that Freeman is that guy. Reports say that Freeman is looking to be traded after the benching, but most teams are pretty set at starting QB (save for the Jags). It will be interesting to see what unfolds with him.
And in some fun news out of college football, the NCAA decided to take some time and research to determine college football’s loudest stadium. Sure, every college football stadium can get pretty loud on a big play, but which one is truly the craziest. The top 5 were as follows. #5 Virginia Tech (Lane Stadium), #4 Wisconsin (Camp Randall), #3 Texas A&M (Kyle Field — especially with the huge military presence there), #2 Oregon (Autzen stadium — the scoring is so frequent, people go insane), and the #1 loudest stadium — LSU (Tiger Stadium). Football is simply a religion there!
