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“COLLEGE FOOTBALL HOT SPOTS”
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PENN STATE..Really have doubts that James Franklin is in trouble as Nittany Lions head coach, though his team disappearing down the elevator shaft of the AP-ratings in two weeks time is shocking.  The Lions are (5-21) in Franklin’s career vs Top 10-teams…and (1-18) vs Big 10-teams ranked in the Top 10.  Cannot ignore that.  His coordinators may pay the price.

COLORADO..Deion Sanders has issues on field, and again off field-with his health.  Life after his QB-son Shedeur and his Heisman Trophy star Travis Hunter has been rocky.  They are (2-4) this year, and (0-3) in the Big 12.  Not moving the ball well.  Cannot stop anyone from moving the ball either.  And now his health is troubling again.  Emergency surgery to solve recurring blood clot problems in his legs, where he has had toes amputated already for blood clot damages while at Jackson State.  All this in addition to his summer long surgeries for bladder cancer.  He says he is not stepping aside though many football friends think he should.

NORTH CAROLINA..So how has life gone for the NFL’s 33rd team, as Bill Belichick described he would build when he took the Tar Heels job.  Now reports that Chapel Hill-Bill is coming apart at the seams, raging on his transfer laden roster; feuding with the media; demanding the school not put anything related to New England Patriots QB-Drake Maye, a UNC star, on their websites.  Oh he also banned all Pats scouts from being on campus.  Guess that’s what an (0-3) record against Power 5-schools will do.  His team has been outscored (120-33).  And his honey Jordan Hudson has stopped tweeting after posting ‘we have arrived’ after wins over Charlotte and Richmond.  What followed were terrible beatings at home, where fans are booing and stopped showing up.

TEXAS…Cannot find them in the AP-top 25 rankings.  End result of losing so many skill players in the draft, and way too much hype about young QB-Arch Manning.  They will be back.  Steve Sarkisian did not lose his ability to coach overnight.  Just way too young a roster at the skill positions.

UCLA…That was a shocker of a win over Penn State, but it was just one victory and there are still lots of games to be played, and the program is in need of a credibility hire of a new head coach plus coordinators.  And solving what appears to be a long standing feud with Bruins alumni players-who feel rebuffed by Chip Kelly and Deshaun Foster.  Anybody know Pat Fitzgerald’s phone number, the ex-Northwestern head coach problem solver.

OREGON STATE…It all seems to be slipping away from Trent Bray; the roster is thin.  Getting Duke transfer QB-Malik Murphy solved the passing problems, but nothing else.  Wonder how much longer this can go on.  Mike Riley and Dennis Erickson saved the Beavers twice decades ago.  They may need new leadership in Corvallis shortly.

WISCONSIN…Hard to believe Luke Fickell has lost his way at Camp Randall Stadium, but he keeps losing QBs and that makes it so hard to compete.  He is on his 3rd starter in 6-weeks after Maryland transfer Billy Evans went down with an injury, and San Diego State transfer Danny O’Neill became a turnover machine.  They are not happy in Madison.

FLORIDA..Billy Napier may be the next two go.  The drop off in the quality of great players the Gators used to get is alarming and so is the up and down QB play.  Where have you gone Tim Tebow?

Oklahoma State (Mike Gundy)..Arkansas (Sam Pittman)..UCLA (Deshaun Foster)..Virginia Tech (Brent Puy) have already been tossed.  More could be coming shortly.

Halfway point of the college season is coming.  Lots of upsets of top ten teams.  Lots of upset alumnis and fan bases.  The coaching hot seat is getting hotter.
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“MORNING MEMO ON BASEBALL”
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PADRES…Begin in house meetings to evaluate what to do with the roster after the teams annual playoff failure…Same time, John Seidler sends out ‘thank you letter’ to fans for the record setting season…Makes mention re-evaluation of roster is a must…

Of course decisions have to be made on whom to re-sign (Michael King)..whom to let go (Dylan Cease)…whom to try to get to stay (Robert Suarez)..and what changes need to be made (Luis Arraez salary)..Ryan O’Hearn insertion at first base…

The great unknown, how much gas does Yu Darvish have left after three years of elbow issues…Will Joe Musgrove be the pitcher he was prior to his elbow surgery…No comment on whether the payroll will bump up from its (211M)  figure of this past season…

Best situation, the Padres could have as much as (65M) budget space, but that would mean everyone is leaving the building who could leave-which would create massive holes…

Track record of AJ Preller-shop at Dollar General and find cost saving replacements, and go back to Japan-Taiwan where there is an ever increasing pool of players available yearly.

Long off season ahead-lots of decisions to be made.  Coming up, opt-out dates for guys who can leave, followed by the (22M) qualifying offer date of free agents you might to keep.

Stay tuned, a busy and important off season is coming
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“CHARGERS-POWDER BLUE-BLACK EYE”
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WTF was that?

No easy way to describe what happened on Sunday, this ugly loss to the Washington Commanders.

All you needed to see was the ‘glazed’ look on the face of coach Jim Harbaugh, running out of ways to avoid using coach-speak to talk about the demise of his team, losing first to the winless NY Giants and then the badly banged up Commanders.

Shell-shocked is about the way to describe QB-Justin Herbert-battered again by a pass rush, betrayed by a sagging offensive line.

Stunning the mess that piled up after the Bolts had a (10-0) lead go away

..Washington had 5-sacks, 6-tackles for loss, 9-hits and a ton of pressures.
..The Commanders sealed the game with a 99-yard TD drive in the 4th quarter.
..Jayden Daniels threw for (231Y)..ran for (66Y) and scrambled well.
..Rookie RB-Bill Merritt grinded out (111Y) in the win
..WR-Deebo Samuel ran open all day (8R-96Y).
..Quinton Johnston fumbled a ball away after a 19Y-catch
..The Chargers wiped out a punt return TD-by Ladd McConkey-penalties
..The Chargers had 24-41 yard pass plays voided by flags
..OT-Trey Pipkens took back to back flags
..The Bolts roughed the punter in the end zone
..There were pass interference penalties and 10-more flags in all

It went on and on.

Herbert made big plays despite taking big hits.
No one else did anything else.

The record may be (3-2) but the last two losses have been gruesome, the injury list keeps growing, and a head coach remains unwilling to call out his team in public.  His GM, Joe Hortiz, does not have many options either to go find any offensive lineman unless he is willing to trade a decent draft pick to take on someone else.

Not what we expected.  What should have been a (5-0) start has now been stained by an awful loss to a winless Giants team, and then another loss to a Washington team that came across the country with a two game losing streak, and hit the Powder Blue with a Black Eye shot to the face.

Like I said, WTF-Chargers.

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Big games every weekend in the NFL..Week 5-is no exception

CHARGERS-WASHINGTON…Both are banged up…Justin Herbert has been sacked 12-times already..hit 47-more times…the offensive line is a mess…but Washington has its issues too..QB-Jayden Daniels is back but his top two WRs Deebo Samuel-Terry McLaurin have nagging injury issues…The Commanders may try to use a heavy-dose of RB-Brian Robinson in this game.

BROWNS-VIKINGS..Dillon Gabriel replaces Joe Flacco in game in London..he becomes the 41st different starting QB-Cleveland has used since 1999..Carson Wentz comes off a (350Y) passing game last week.

RAIDERS-COLTS..Geno Smith is taking too many sacks (12) and has thrown too many picks (7)-and his OL is poor…Daniel Jones-Jon Taylor-Tyler Warren a pretty good pass-run-catch combo for Indy

GIANTS-SAINTS..Jaxson Dart brought a feisty attitude at QB in last weekends upset win over the Chargers…now he faces a troubled (0-4) Saints team.

DALLAS-JETS…An astounding start to the Cowboys offense (403YPG) but a brutal start for the defense (430YPG)…But Dallas is going up and down the field on everyone…The Jets, just not enough talent around QB-Justin Fields.

EAGLES-BRONCOS..Just not the same Philadelphia team right now that won the Super Bowl…Jalen Hurts not putting up monster passing numbers-Saquon Barkley not pounding the rock..and the defense is not playing dominant ball either..Bo Nix is coming off a strong game throwing the ball downfield

MIAMI-CAROLINA…Life after Tyreek Hill begins, in what could be just a miserable season for the Dolphins…Bryce Young not having a good season to start for the Panthers-because he does not have alot around him either.’

HOUSTON-BALTIMORE…Struggling Texans offense-vs-bad Baltimore defense-ripped by injuries.  The Texans are not protecting CJ Stroud very much.  The Ravens have 7-defensive starters out from a unit giving up (406YPG), and now Lamar Jackson is ailing with a hamstring.

TITANS-ARIZONA..Rumors everywhere coach Brian Callahan is in big trouble..QB-Cam Ward’s offense is averaging (210YPG).  Arizona has no run game because of injuries, so it is all on Kyler Murray.

TAMPA BAY-SEATTLE..Sam Darnold has a (106-QBR) and that Seahawks defense has 7-picks…but Baker Mayfield is rolling (8TD-1Int)

LIONS-BENGALS..A horrid stretch in Cincinnati since Joe Burrow’s major injury…The Bengals offense (205YPG-8-turnovers-13-sacks)…The defense is deplorable too giving up (397YPG)…and here comes Jared Goff (113QBR) and a defense that has 14-sacks.

PATRIOTS-BILLS..Josh Allen and the gang averaging (409YPG) with a defense (290YPG) bring ferocity into this game..Pats QB-Drake Maye has a (109QBR) but there’s not enough firepower around him.

CHIEFS-JAGUARS…A breakout game last week for Patrick Mahomes, down the field strikes and some bits of a run game..The Chiefs QB has a (130QBR)…Jags RB-Travis Etienne (6YPC)..WR-Travis Hunter (13Rec)
in his rookie season..That Jags defense has 13-takeaways.

RAMS-49ERS…Thursday Night Football..How the Niners are winning with all these injuries is amazing..Mac Jones throws for (342Y-2TD) in outgunning Matthew Stafford-who threw for (389Y-3TD) in gut wrenching OT loss..The Rams had a field goal blocked, lost a fumble at the SF-1 at the end of the game, then were stopped on downs in OT in losing.

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“PADRES–WIN OR GO HOME”
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The Padres are where they need to be…still playing in post season games as the calendar has flipped into October.

And now they face the Cubs in a do-or-die game on Thursday at Wrigley Field.

A matchup of two fatigued teams.

Both teams have struggled to hit the ball.
Both teams have used up their bullpens.
Both teams have had to go pull their starters out of the game.

Yu Darvish, hardly the ace he used to be, will start in the win or go home game.  He will be backed up by the rested, but rusty, Michael King and the young Randy Vasquez.  It looks like the Friars have enough bullets in the gun from among those starters, to get this done.

Jameson Taillon, pitching his way back from the injured list, has to start, and may be backed by young starter Ben Brown.  But after that, there is no idea where innings will come from for Chicago.

Manager Craig Counsell is being second guessed for his handling of Shoto Imanaga, who did not start on Wednesday, came out of the bullpen, and gave up another home run at Wrigley, where he has faded this second half of the season.  You change a pitcher’s routine-maybe it does not work out.

Mike Shildt gambled, yanking Dylan Cease early and asking his bullpen to get him some 15-outs.  They did, the best outing Adrian Morejon has ever had, the dominant 103-104 mph pitches from strikeout artist Mason Miller, and then the closing work of Robert Suarez.  On Thursday the gamble paid off, but the bulk of the bullpen has been used up, because they also pitched with the early exit of Nick Pivetta in the first game.

Manny Machado, with a history of post season failure, gave the Padres the breathing room they needed with a 2R-HR swing in the win.

Fernando Tatis made a brilliant 8th inning catch to snuff out a rally.  The infield turned a 9th inning double play to end the game, and force a 3rd and final game.

Neither team has hit well in this playoff series.  The wind blowing in has been a difference maker.

And now someone is 9-innings away from moving on to a tough Milwaukee series by the weekend.

Can Yu find enough vintage Darvish stuff to choke off the batting order?
If the Friars go to the bullpen, can King be what he was before all the issues?
What kind of innings do you get from the young thrower Vasquez?
Which batting order breaks out of the funk?
Is there a hero out there from the slumping Kyle Tucker or Peter Crow-Armstrong?

And will anyone have any gas left in the tank to go to play the 97-win Brewers in the next round?

Playoff baseball…alot of tension-alot of edge of the seat action…isn’t it?
Is it game-time yet?

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