The twosome of Halladay and Hamels should be great.  But that puts the Phillies on par with some other great duos like Lincecum and Cain, Carpenter and Wainwright, Sabathia and Burnett, Hernadez and Lee and Lester and Beckett.  However a threesome of Halladay-Lee and Hamels could not be matched by any other team. (No Red Sox fans, not even by Lester-Beckett and Lackey)  The goal is to win the World Series and though I’m ecstatic that the Phillies finally got Roy Halladay, I did not want to exchange Cliff Lee for him.  I’m a little torn because I like the moves to keep the Phillies relevant into the future.  I’ve lived through the dry times and got razzed on the day of the 10000th loss, so a move to keep the Phillies good for future years is heartening.  But couldn’t we have gone for it this year and then seen what happened?  The future is not guaranteed, you have to go for the NOW!

     I guess we’ll see what happens this season.  I expect the Phillies to win the East, take out St Louis for the Penant and face the Yankees again in October.  Hopefully this time the Offense, Hamels and Lidge all have their A games ready so Philadelphia can hoist another banner!

     So Steve Williams, caddy for the great Tiger Woods has a little time on his hands.  And as a folk hero in his native New Zealand, he has taken his show back home and proceeded to claim his ignorance of any of Wood’s hijinks, that he is mad at Tiger for what he’s done, sorry for Elin and “will tell Woods off” when the time is right.  Really?  So golfers on the tour knew what Woods was up to, nudge, nudge, wink, wink but Williams did not???  C’mon Steve, cut us a break.  And save the speeches unless you really expect us to believe you are going to tell off the man whose made you over a milli0n dollars (Williams gets at least 10% of Tiger’s winnings if not up to 20%) for carrying a golf bag for him.  Nice work if you can get it.

     And good ole Pete Carroll has moved back into the NFL, this time as head coach for the Seattle Seahawks.  Interesting timing if you consider he had one of the best QBs in college in Matt Barkley with three years of eligibility left.  Of course, the investigation into USC and Reggie Bush has heated up and one can anticipate that head hunting for those who knew something is coming up fast.  Guess it was time for Mr Carroll to get out of Dodge.

     Our final and biggest bonehead award goes to he of the questionable character, Ben Roethlisberger, two time Superbowl winning Quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Roethlisberger started everyone questioning his judgement years ago when he took a header off his motorcycle while not wearing a helmet.  Now the QB, hot on the singles scene, has been rung up not once, but TWICE for potential sexual misconduct.  Maybe Big Ben needs to stay out of the bars and hope to meet Ms. Right at the library.  At least that’s what the Steelers are hoping, now that their long term investment in Mr. Roethlisberger is looking sketchy at best.

     Please someone get me into a real set of Sports (the Olympics weren’t bad, but too much jumping around by NBC) stories versus all these shady dealings!

The U.S.A.-1, 4-man bobsled team won gold Saturday to break a 6 decade Olympic drought in that sport. I was so jacked up watching that event as Team U.S.A. delivered their final flawless run to top the German and Canadian teams. The “Night Train” Sleigh streaked past the field with a little help from NASCAR and 4 burley American dudes that looked like a D-1 college football O-line. Way to go fellas.

Kudos also go out to Apollo Ohno, Bode Miller, Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn and the rest of Team U.S.A. for delivering a terrific 2 weeks on Canadian soil.

     I am shocked and apalled at how many people thought Tiger Woods owed them an apology.  What a waste of time the press has spent since Thanksgiving trying to get a scoop.  Did Tiger give any juicy details or innuendo that the tabloid hawks wanted?  No, of course not.  He apologized (hopefully sincerely, it seemed to be so, but we’ll see…) to his wife and his sponsors for letting her down and losing them sales.  That’s it; it’s over, it’s done.  Finally, I hope. 

     How many times was the thirteen minute apology played and replayed this weekend? And all the talking heads analyzing whether he was robotic, or sincere or complaining a camera malfunctioned.  Man, cut the guy a break!  His marriage is on the rocks, he is separated from his kids and people want to nitpick his presentation skills.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t condone what he did.  He’s paying a steep price and deserves it, but that’s between him and his family.

The only person Tiger has to answer to is Elin and unfortunately for him, she wasn’t there.  A telling point, don’t you think?  Did you really expect her to be?  You’ll have a hard time convincing me (and definitely her) that Tiger actually loves and respects his wife after having over a dozen flings some lasting over three years.  So Tiger, you blew it!  You got caught and now pay the price like every other human being.  So man up, move on and forget about her.  Time to pick up the sticks and get ready for the Masters.  As you, of course, found out on your yacht, there are other fish in the sea…  Hope you do better the next round…

     Head Coach Sean Payton (shown here) and Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams earned my admiration and respect with the go for it attitude they showed.  Payton’s on side kick call to open the 2nd half was the call of the season!  And don’t give me any of that lucky bounce nonsense.  Luck is the combination of preparation and opportunity arriving at the same time.  I may buy into a little bit of karmic intervention as well, but it’s interesting that unprepared and/or bad teams never seem to get the breaks.  Payton’s Saints practiced that onsides kick for two weeks before succeeding and Williams’ blitzing defense resulted in the winning pick six only after weeks of watching tendencies in film study.  The Saints were supposed to get worn down by Colt perfection, instead they outscored Indy 31-7 in quarters 2, 3 and 4 and are partying on Bourbon Street!

     On the flip side, the other Peyton is getting destroyed.  What is it with people these days?!?  Don’t get me wrong, I took some pleasure in watching the four time MVP, golden boy quarterback throw the interception that sealed the game for the Saints, but don’t blame it all on Manning.  Peyton Manning is a GREAT quarterback, will go down as one of the best ever and every team in the NFL (except maybe New England) whether they’re led by Brees, McNabb, Romo or Rivers would trade their QB straight up for Manning.  The Colts were undone by being conservative and playing not to lose.  They’ll spend the offseason kicking themselves and wondering what might have been.

     Play to win folks; there’s a reason they say, “to the aggressor go the spoils!”

     Adding to the mess, the only team that had their division sewn up weeks ago, the mighty Indianapolis Colts (who pundits are ranking as only the second best team in the AFC despite their 14-1 record), did the unspeakable and took out their players in the 3rd quarter of an eventual 29-15 loss to the New York Jets.  Fans in Denver, Pittsburgh and Houston are screaming foul as the Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell pulled his starters while sporting a 15-10 lead and let the Jets waltz to a win, an 8 and 7 record and the inside track to one of the AFC Wild Card slots.  Are they right? 

     In other sports, it’s a time honored tradition to try to play spoiler and send teams spinning out of the playoffs.  Only in football, where injuries are so prevalent, is it acceptable (to some…) to lay down and protect your starters for your own playoff run.  My thought is hey, protect your own, even if it means someone else will suffer for it.  Football teams only get 16 games and if you want a playoff spot, earn it.  I was a little unhappy with Caldwell’s call as the Colts were going for History as well, but I agree, the most important thing is to win the Superbowl.  Or do you think the Patriots were really satisfied with their 18 and 1 record two years ago???

     Where I place the blame is on the coaching staff and Head Coach Wade Phillips.  In four of the five Cowboy losses, the team lost by seven points or less; true that is indicative of most NFL games but what is says to me is that the Cowboys can not  close out quality opponents in close games.  The field goal kicker is four of ten from over 40 yards which is pathetic.  Why does Wade put up with that???  Bill Parcells canned Mike Vanderjagt when he missed a few kicks and he was the most accurate kicker of all time!  Wade Phillips can’t pull the trigger on the hard decisions and it is time to cut him loose.  With coaching candidates like Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan and Bill Cowher on the radar screen, Wade Phillips is a liability to say the least!  And oh by the way, send Jason Garrett packing with him…

With the October Classic upon us, its time for SCL’s Fresh Take, ala Baseball!  It’s fitting that the New York Yankees with their 26 Championships and the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies square off in the World Series; on the flip side, how bad is it to be a Cleveland Indians fan?  Past Indian pitchers CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee square off in Game One of the Series, while Indians fans get to wonder what if.  Not to mention, if you add in the Championship rounds with Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Charlie Manuel, it looked like a Cleveland reunion out there!

     The Yankees and Phillies led their respective leagues in runs and home runs and with the right field jet stream in new Yankee Stadium and the short flower beds in Citizens Bank Park, will anyone be surprised if we set an new record for home runs in a World Series this year?  The Phillies have 4 guys who hit over thirty home runs while the Yankees counter with 5 who hit more than twenty.  Get ready for the shooting gallery!

     Is there a cold weather team bias to the World Series now?  Everyone talks about the “dog days of summer” and how lousy it is to play in Arlington, TX or Miami, FL in July and August with 100 degree days, but have you noticed that seven of the last ten World Series have been won by cold weather teams?  And this year the trend has to continue after Philly and New York spun out the boys from California.  As we extend the baseball year later and later, its seems less and less likely to see a team from the South or the West representing their leagues or at least winning the whole thing…

     So time for the prediction!  It looks like the studs from each team, Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez are ready to rumble, but it’s still pitching that wins in the playoffs.  Both teams have Aces and Jokers in their rotations, offenses in high gear and this will be a great series to watch.  I’m tired about hearing how suspect the Phillies bullpen is, especially after they knocked out the LA Dodgers in five games.  I think the Phillies October magic will continue and I’ll take Philadelphia in Six!

Welcome back Sports Fans, it’s another addition of the SCL Fresh Take!  Has the NFL season been a surprise, or what?!?  Jockeying back and forth for biggest surprise of the year are the Denver Broncos on the good side and the Tennessee Titans on the bad!  The Broncos are 6 and oh and running away with the AFC West after pasting San Diego on Monday.  The Chargers are off to their normal weak start and look to be looking up at Bronco butt in the standings for the rest of the season. 

     Meanwhile the Titans got lathered by Golden Boy Tom Brady and the Patriots who watched Brady throw five TD passes in one quarter on route to a 59-0 laugher!  The Titans never showed up for the game and did not want to be playing in the ice and snow in New England.  I love Jeff Fisher and will love him even more when he’s coaching Dallas next year…  A Fisher firing is on the horizon especially after watching the Titans mail it in game after game this year.   On the flip side, Brady continues his reign as the NFL’s favorite and most protected QB.  Did you catch the “Roughing” the Passer penalty called when one of the Titans waved his hand in front of Brady’s face?  I’m stunned Tom didn’t take a dive to get away…

     Two other disappointments showed up on Sunday as the Eagles threw the ball 46 times (88% of their plays) against the Raiders and their 31st ranked run defense.  The iggies went down 13 to 9 which led Head Coach Andy Reid to ponder if they should have ran the ball a few more times.  The San Diego slow start makes one forget about Philly, but the Eagles always seem to flush home field advantage in the playoffs by blowing games like this and at Cincinnati last year!  Meanwhile Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears matched his season total of two fumbles in two successive plays at the goal line Sunday night in Atlanta.  The Bears went down 21 to 14 and it looks like Forte will get to go the the Tom Coughlin school of frequent fumblers ; wrap it up Matt!

     And that wraps it up for us, stay Fresh!

Okay, let’s get started with some real sports and today’s Fresh Take.

Congratulation to the city of Rio de Janeiro and the country of Brazil for landing the 2016 Summer Olympics games.  This will be the first time the summer games have ever been held on the continent of South America.  Good for them.  Thank God Chicago didn’t get the games as the city would have had to rack up a ton of debt in order to pull these games off.  Now I know why President Obama, the First Lady Michelle and the “first lady backup” Oprah Winfrey (aka Okra Winfrey) were on hand for the bid process.  Someone said budget overruns and they bolted into action.  I know the Obamas were not the first to do so, but when did heads of state anoint themselves as Olympiad apostles and interject themselves into the bid process?  Don’t these clowns have bigger fish to fry?  Send a Chicago sports legend like Michael Jordan, not “Ms. Dysfunctional daytime T.V.”  At least they didn’t send Ellen.  Can a brother get an AMEN?

Next!  Was that Gisele Bundchen yesterday wearing number twelve for the Patriots?  I guess ‘ole Tommy boy needed a day off so he sent his girl to face the Ravens instead.  If I’m not mistaken, Tom/Gisele was wearing a chinstrap just like all the other boys were, but complained to the refs about a would-be tackler glancing off his leg.  Come on Tom, this is football, not a fashion runway where you only have to worry about getting the heel of your stiletto caught in your dress.  Your boy Rodney Harrison even called you down on this one.  Okay, the owners are the ones who really created these girly football players, not the other way around.  Change the rules and make the quarterbacks play 11 on 11 football and not 7 on 7.

When things aren’t going well, you have to look at the very top and when I look at the very top of the Dallas Cowboys, I only see one person…..Mr. Facelift himself, Jerry Jones.  We can all sit back and blame Tony Romo and company (Coaches Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett) but I think Jerry has spent way too much time focusing on the new stadium and not on the boys who score touchdowns.  Big mistake J.J.  The Cowboys bogged down at Denver’s 8 yard line yesterday as time expired at Mile High Stadium after facing a first and goal from the same position with half a minute left.  Four shots at the end zone and you don’t throw one pass toward your best target, Jason Witten?  Instead, you throw twice at one of the league’s best cover corners in Champ Bailey.  His name is “Champ” for a reason big dog.  Stay away from him if you please.  Poor play, poor coaching and an overall lack of fire means only one thing in my book……poor leadership.

What has happened to the Houston Oilers, I mean the Tennessee Titans?  I said a few weeks ago that this team reminded me more of a Phillip Fulmer coached team from Knoxville and not last year’s 13-3 team from Nashville.  Two weeks later, it has gotten even worse.  The 0-4 Titans have vowed to stick with quarterback Kerry Collins despite Collins throwing his fifth and sixth INTs of the season.  This team has way bigger issues than just the QB position but Collins is not helping his own cause.  Is it time to go to Vince Young yet?  According to Jeff Fisher, the answer is NO!  Good luck with that one coach but at 0-4, you’d better start turning over the right rocks before the season gets away from you.

Hey Ho, Bobby’s gotta go!  Hey Ho, Bobby’s gotta go!  I can hear the chants in Tallahassee now.  The Seminole faithful are getting restless after Bowden’s grid iron squad posted another lackluster performance in their 28-21 loss to Boston College over the weekend. After an impressive three game start, the ‘Noles have hit the skids the last two weeks and have stunk up the joint doing so.  Florida State is just another ACC team that has failed miserably to live up to the preseason hype, joining Clemson and North Carolina.  Can someone say Mountain West conference as a BCS conference?  ACC ain’t getting it done this year.

And that, my friends is what is HOT in sports.  Join us again for the next Fresh Take.