Weekend Ramblings: D-Train, Playoff Chase, and College Football

I’ll go off semi-Larry King style here today with some random thoughts:

• Apparently no one told Dontrelle Willis that the Marlins are out of the playoff hunt. The D-Train played with his usual reckless abandon last night, earning himself two spots in ESPN’s Top 10 Plays of the Day list. Unfortunately his second spectacular play – involving a bare handed catch of the ball as he went to cover first base – ended with Dontrelle injuring his ankle. Luckily Dontrelle will now have the entire offseason to recover.
  
  Last night’s loss – despite a solid outing from Willis – eliminated the notion that the Marlins own the Phillies. Things seem to have evened out over the course of the season, which was only inevitable, as both clubs are very solid. Hopefully this won’t have any lingering psychological effects on the Marlins as they head into 2005. Winning the final three games of the season could help to overcome some of that, as that would give the Marlins a one game lead over the Phils in the final standings. Another loss by the Marlins ensures that the Phillies will finish with a better record.

• Lost in all the debate coverage was that part of the 32-pages of negotiated terms was that the majority of the debates take place in the Sunbelt so that the candidates could spend some time scoping out coeds. If you don’t believe me, Aaron Gleeman gives a very nice and thorough rundown of the whole thing here, so I won’t try to give any more detail.

• Marquis Weeks hysteria seems to be dying down – finally. I’m still seeing quite a few hits though for people wanting to know what he said (see the quote at the top of the page). We’ve also gotten a few hits for people looking for “Mike Tyson” and “confusciusly.” I just like to keep typing those things because it will probably generate a few more hits.
  
  I’ll give you one new quote though. The source isn’t the greatest, but the line itself is. Even if it’s a concocted line, it’s something you could hear one of these politicians – or someone else trying to sell you something – saying one day: "If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be 'simply amazing.'” As those men in the Guinness commercials say, “Brilliant!” I’m going to have to start mixing that into my routine.

• I’ll be in Atlanta this weekend for the Miami – Georgia Tech game. Somehow the Canes are favored by two full touchdowns in this game. Fortunately I don’t gamble on sports, because if I did I’d sure be tempted to lay some money on Georgia Tech. I’m fairly confident the Canes will win this game, but based on how their offense has looked this year, I can’t see them winning an ACC road game by two touchdowns. They most definitely have the talent to do it, but we just haven’t seen it all come together yet.

• Next week, once the playoffs are ready to go and the teams are set, I’ll give some insight and observations into why you might want to cheer for one team over another. I’m not going to come right out and predict who will win though. I agree with much of this post, over at Management by Baseball, which essentially says that trying to predict who will win a playoff series in baseball is kind of like trying to predict if the next coin you flip will come up heads or tails. Over the long haul of a one hundred sixty-two game season, you can perform some solid analysis and make a reasonable prediction. However, over a five or a seven game set, it’s just too short of a series to predict with any certainty. That doesn’t take away from the drama or the intrigue at all though. Major League Baseball’s playoffs are still the best in sports.
  

And now, please join me in sharing a weekend of web-silence as we remember the Montreal Expos…