Diamondbacks Clinch NL West With 3-1 Win over The Giants

On Sunday, October 3, 2010, the Arizona Diamondbacks finished the season with an embarassing 65-97 record, also claiming the title of last place in the NL West. Less than a year later, on September 23, 2011, they defeated the San Francisco Giants 3-1, to improve their record to 91-66. Behind a strong performance from Joe Saunders they clinched the NL West for the first time since 2007. In his first full season as manager, Kirk Gibson has brought the Diamondbacks from the laughing stock of the division to a surprise playoff team with momentum that could keep them playing deep into October. The Diamondbacks officially clinched their playoff spot yesterday, to the delight of the 42,606 fans in attendance.

The current playoff teams in the National league are the Number One seeded Phillies, Two seeded Brewers, Three Seeded Diamondbacks, and the Braves with the wild card. The Saint Louis Cardinals currently trail the Braves by 2 games for the wildcard spot. In the American League, The Yankees, Rangers, and Tigers have all clinched their playoff spots. The Boston Red Sox currently own the Wild Card Spot, a spot rewarded to the team with the best record that does not win its division. Tampa Bay trails Boston by a mere 1.5 games with 4 games left to play for the Rays(and 5 left for the Sox). The Angels trail the Red Sox by 2.5 games for the Wild Card.

The Dodgers were officially eliminated from the playoffs, but have won 24 0f 41 and have a winning record. The Dodgers’ lefty and Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw leads the MLB in strikeouts, and the NL in ERA. He also is tied for the most wins with 20, and is the only Dodger pitcher to win 20 games in over 20 years. The Dodgers also have an MVP Candidate in Matt Kemp, who is 3rd in the National League in batting, tied for 1st in Home Runs, 1st in Runs Batted In, 2nd in hits, 2nd in stolen bases, and 3rd in On Base Percentage.

Redskins Complete Late Comeback, Squeeze Past Cards

The Cardinals traveled to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, to take on the Redskins. Having only once won in that building ever, the odds were against the Cardinals, who were attempting to stop Washington from getting off to its first 2-o start since 2007. Kevin Kolb was starting for the Cardinals in his second regular season game, and once again, had a solid game. After multiple missed opportunities in the first half, the Cardinals trailed 10 to 7 at halftime. In the first half, Beanie Wells had a mere 2 carries for less than 6 yards. In the opening drive of the second half, he had 3 carries for over 40 yards. Kevin Kolb led the Cardinals to the red zone, before throwing his first interception as a Cardinal. Neither quarterback was playing exceptionally well, as Rex Grossman had 2 picks in the first half, and the Cardinals entered the final quarter leading 14-10.

The 4th quarter of this Week 2 game showed both bright and dark spots in the Cardinals team. With 10:58 remaining in the quarter, Kevin Kolb was drilled in the face by a Redskins linebacker, but not before releasing the ball. The ball was gracefully lofted into the air, and slowly floated downfield. Hanging in the air like a chandelier in a ballroom, the tight spiral slowly descended to the ground…right into the hands of star wideout Larry Fitzgerald, who walked into the end zone for a 73 yard touchdown pass. This play is memorable because it is the first of what will be many touchdown passes from Kolb to Fitz. Leading 21-13 with 10 minutes left, the Cardinals continued to worsten in the area where they needed the most help. After giving up over 400 yards to Cam Newton in week 1, the pass defense had something to prove. Unfortunately, they proved that they had the inability to perform in the clutch. Rex Grossman led his team down the field to a touchdown and eventually a game winning field goal. The Pass defense was once again highly criticized after this atrocious performance. The Cardinals lost the game, falling 22-21 in a heartbreaking yet down-to-earth loss. Next week the Cardinals take on the Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle, marking their first divison game. The Cardinals are tied for first place in the division with a 1-1 record with San Francisco.

Cam Newton Impresses in his Debut but Panthers late Rally Falls Short to Cardinals

Cam Newton had a record-breaking game in the same stadium where he won the national championship for Auburn in January earlier this year. The Number One pick in the 2011 NFL Draft led the Carolina Panthers to a 21-14  after 3 quarters, but Arizona’s Quarterback, Kevin Kolb, who was also making his debut for the Cardinals eventually came out on top. Both quarterbacks had great games, as Cam Newton broke Peyton Manning’s record for most yards thrown in a rookie debut with 422 yards on 24-37 passing. He had two touchdowns, both to Steve Smith and one interception. Kevin Kolb for Arizona had 2 touchdowns on 18-27 passing and no interceptions.

With 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the Cardinals trailing  14-21,  the Panthers brought nearly everyone on a blitz on 3rd down and Kevin Kolb quickly completed a pass over the middle to Early Doucet. After running around one tackler, there was a clear path to the end zone for Doucet and suddenly the game was tied. The very next posession, Carolina punted and Patrick Peterson, the 5th round pick in the NFL draft at Cornerback for the Cardinals was back to receive. Peterson, who had claimed to idolize great cornerback and legendary punt returner Deion Sanders(Who was just inducted into the Hall of Fame) even took Deion’s number, 21, from another Cardinals Player when signed. The comparisons between him and “Neon Deion” immediately grew. In Deion’s first ever NFL game, he returned a punt to for a touchdown. With 7 minutes left in the game today, Patrick Peterson made a gutsy decision to field a punt at the 11 yard line. He then broke several tackles, and easily sped down the sidelines headed to the endzone. He began showboating at the 15, as Deion Sanders was famous for doing, and was nearly tackled by a Carolina special teams player who Peterson never saw. The rookie Cornerback dove into the end zone for the go ahead touchdown and gave the Cardinals a 28-21 lead. Cam Newton eventually took Carolina to the Arizona 11 yard line and then threw 3 incomplete passes bringing up 4th down. He then completed a pass to the 2 yard line, however this was not enough to get the 1st down and the Cardinals barely held on for the win. The Cardinals had one turnover, a Beanie Wells fumble in the red zone, and start the season with a win.

UCLA’s Comeback Falls Short, Bruins Fall to Houston

Kevin Prince was the starting quarterback for UCLA against Houston, but not for long. Last year, Prince received a season-ending injury against Texas, and fell awkwardly on his shoulder again. Backup quarterback, who I feel is the better pocket quarterback, Richard Brehaut took the field and tried to lead a comeback. The Bruins Trailed at halftime 31-14 but Brehaut quickly helped the Bruins pull within 3 points by the end of the third quarter. The Bruins managed to Score with 1:19 left in the final quarter to make the score 34-38 in favor of Houston, however it was too little too late. Houston’s offense shredded the disappointingly terrible UCLA defense as quarterback Kase Keenum threw for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns.

This loss to Houston is a bad start for UCLA, and their coach Rick Neuheisel. Neuheisel was hired a few years ago and praised as the savior for UCLA football, however he has barely been a paragon of mediocrity. Rumors are floating around that if UCLA’s football team does not make improvements this season, Neuheisel will be fired.

Arizona Coasts to Easy Season-opening Victory over NAU

For the University of Arizona Wildcats, their season began on Saturday, September 3. With one of the toughest schedules in all of college football coming up ahead in the next few games, they truly needed a dominant performance from their starters. Arizona ended last season on a 5 game losing streak, and was crushed in most of those losses. With many unfortunate departures, such as the whole offensive line, the new team needs to discover the winning combination fast. Led by accurate quarterback Nick Foles and one of college football’s best receivers, Juron Criner, The Wildcats got off to a fast start against NAU. The game opened with a 42 yard pass from Foles to Criner. 2 plays later, Foles found Criner in the end zone for a 10 yard completion and the Wildcats were up 7-0. Soon Arizona was up 14-0 before they performed a transformation into last year’s team and allowed the lumberjacks to come back. Beginning the 3rd quarter only winning by 4 points, Nick Foles woke up. He finished the game completing a whopping 34 of his 42 pass attempts and 5 touchdowns. Juron Criner finished the game with 6 receptions for 151 yards and one Touchdown, averaging 25.2 yards per completion. Foles threw 3 of his 5 touchdowns in the 3rd quarter as Arizona eventually won the game 41-10.

In the next few weeks, Arizona will face Oklahoma State(Ranked 9th overall), Stanford(Ranked 7th) and Oregon(Ranked 3rd). The rout of NAU should help ease the team into a tough schedule.