National Football League

A wild weekend of sports

Published Sep. 13, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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FRIDAY

West-fest

About a month ago it was the least competitive, least interesting race in baseball, but a wild few weeks later the National League West is shaping up to be baseball’s best.

Near the end of August the Padres built their lead to 6 1/2 games over the Giants and 11 over the Rockies. Now, though, two weeks ago seems like the Good Old Days for San Diego.

While Troy Tulowitzki’s two home runs (giving him eight in the past eight games) led Colorado to a 13-4 pummeling of Arizona, the Giants were scratching out a 1-0 win at that Petco bandbox in San Diego.

That left the Padres and Giants in a virtual tie, and pulled those rollin’ Rox, winners of eight straight, to within 2 1/2 games.

Bashin’ Blue Jay

In the AL, Toronto’s Jose Bautista bashed his 45th and 46th home runs.

Bautista, whose previous yearly HR totals are 16, 15, 15 and 13, is now blowing away the field in the AL home run race. His total of 46 is 12 more than his closest pursuer, Miguel Cabrera.

The last player to lead the league by 12 or more home runs? Ken Griffey Jr. in 1997.
 

SATURDAY

Where have you gone, Maurice Clarett?

Wait a minute ... don’t answer that.

Eight years after Clarett and Ohio State shocked “The U” in the national championship game, the teams met again.

The Buckeyes picked off Miami QB Jacory Harris four times and won it 36-24. (Am I the only one who wants to add another “36” at the end of the score?) Terrelle Pryor ran for 113 yards and a touchdown as Ohio State improved to 2-0.

R.I.P, FSU

So much for Florida State’s No. 17 ranking.

Blood might be thicker than water, but there is no mercy in college football. Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma team got downright medieval on his brother Mark’s FSU defense, racking up 487 yards and 34 first-half points en route to a 47-17 destruction of the Seminoles.

Big Blue

When Brian Kelly took over as Notre Dame’s head coach in December, he said, “There’s a football coach, and then there’s the football coach at Notre Dame.”

OK, a little vague, and a bit (decades) outdated, but ya gotta like the optimism.

The Irish were involved in one of the weekend’s great games, but ended up on the wrong side of a 28-24 Michigan victory.

Wolverines quarterback Denard Robinson staked his claim as the best player in college football, rushing for 258 yards, (that is not a typo: two-hundred fifty-eight) and throwing for another 244.

By the way, Notre Dame’s record since the start of the 2007 season: 17-22.

Hey Irish fans, Tennille just called. She wanted to tell you that she and the Captain miss the '70s too.

Virginia Tech-nically stinks

The Hokies came into the season talking national championship. A loss to James Madison (James Madison!?!) makes them a national embarrassment.

JMU, a “Football Championship Subdivision” team (Hey, NCAA, enough of this division/subdivision crap. Bring back D1 and D1-AA, will ya?) pulled off the shocking upset of the 13th-ranked team in the country (pause for laughter), 21-16.

In the new AP poll, Boise State lost seven of the eight first-place votes it got last week, despite the fact the Broncos didn’t even play this week.

Rockie road in the West

The Padres bounced back from their 1-0 loss to the Giants, winning a 1-0 game of their own. (Suggested advertising slogan for the Padres — "Petco Park: Who needs stinkin’ runs? Come see some real low-scoring excitement!")

Yorvit Torrealba’s third-inning home run helped San Diego take back the top spot in the division, but the rear-view mirror is packed with predators.

San Fran is a game back and the Rockies won their ninth straight, remaining 2 1/2 out.

A Rosey return

Twenty-five years after his record-breaking 4,192nd hit, Pete Rose was honored in Cincinnati.

In light of all the shenanigans in MLB over the past couple of decades, isn’t it time we re-thought Rose’s lifetime banishment from baseball?

A brilliant writer expresses an insightful opinion.

Big win for Li’l Kim

For the secnd straight year, Kim Clijsters won the Women’s U.S. Open. Second-seeded Clijsters dominated No. 7 Vera Zvonareva in a 6-2, 6-1 crushing in Flushing.

Fifty-nine minutes, over and out.

SUNDAY

NFL, controversy is thy name

Lions/Bears. Final minute. Long story.

See the highlight and explanation here.

Texas turnaround

The Colts and Texans had played 16 football games in the past eight seasons. The Colts had won 15 of them.

Sunday, undrafted running back Arian Foster sliced and diced the Indy D for a team-record 231 yards in a 34-24 Houston victory.

Not even close

Didn’t take long for Raider fans to get a feel for the way 2010 is going to play out.

Unfortunately, it looks a lot like 2009 (5-11), 2008 (5-11), 2007 (4-12), 2006 (2-14), etc, etc.

Oakland suffered Sunday’s most lopsided defeat, losing 38-13 at Tennessee.

I’m telling you; this would never have happened when Al Davis was alive.

Huh? He is? Oh. Never mind.

Tea for three

The tight three-team race in the NL West got even tighter as the Rockies pulled to within a game-and-a-half of the top of the division. Colorado won its 10th straight while the Giants beat the Padres 6-1.

Here’s how they stand going into Monday:

Team W L GB
San Diego 80 62 --
San Francisco 81 63 --
Colorado 79 64 1.5

The Padres managed a mere five runs while losing three of four in their series with the Giants.

Up next for SD: a three-game series in Denver.

Don’t worry, Padres fans, I hear the Rockies aren’t very good at home.

Hang in there folks — only five more days ‘til the weekend.

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