The Starting Five

So you say watching baseball on television is boring? At times it maight be, but Wednesday night was not one of them. What a night for baseball to end the regular season. Drama everywhere and in a short period of time, even though it required extra innings.
It got be late. St. Louis was already clinching at least a wildcard tie in the National League with a win over Houston. Philadelphia and Atlanta were going at it with Atlanta needing a win.
In the AL, Boston and Tampa Bay were tied going into the finale. It looked like Tampa Bay was in the coffin, down 7-0 to the Yankees. And Boston was looking good with a one-run lead over the Orioles before a rain delay.
Alas, Atlanta is dumped from the wildcard when Philly wins. And while the Red Sox-Orioles are in the delay, Tampa Bay mounts a comeback against New York, getting to 7-7 in 9 innings.
Then, Baltimore puts the knocker on the Red Sox with Reimold’s game-winner and only moments later, Evan Longoria homers for Tampa Bay to make it official on the Red Sox — gone.
What a night …. That was baseball ….

Today was the first round of the Middle Atlantic Tournament of Champions at Beaver Creek Country Club with many of the outstanding club professionals on hand.
Tuesday will be the final round of the 36-hole event.
It is not often that tournaments conducted by either the MAPGA or the Maryland State Golf Association get up to Hagerstown. The last big one was the Maryland Open which was held at Fountain Head Country Club in 2008.
Beaver Creek has nothing to be ashamed of going up against the courses from around the region.
Players on Monday raved at the condition of the course.
Mike Steiner and his limited grounds crew were mowing fairways and cutting greens well into the dark hours Sunday and back at ‘em very early on Monday with one last manicure.
The people behind the scenes don’t get enough notice for their efforts. Steiner and his staff pulled off an eagle with their work for this tournament.

Well, it took only one week to get a new QB at Notre Dame as coach Brian Kelly has announced that Tommy Rees will start Saturday night at Michigan.
OK the Irish lost to South Florida 23-20 on Saturday … So much for a national championship year … Five turnovers will kill any team.
At his weekly press conference Kelly called it one of his most frustrating experiences he has had as a coach.
Think of what it was like for us ND fans, coach.
He pulled starter Dayne Crist after the first period and Rees came on to go 24 of 34 for 296 yards.
But Crist didn’t drop a ball in the endzone, such as T.J. Jones did. Crist didn’t fumble like Jonas Gray did inside the 5 that led to a 96-yard return by South Florida.
But such is life and Crist is the QB and the one to take the heat.
Elsewhere, uniforms all over the college landscape are getting plenty of headlines and no exception is Maryland’s, unveiled Monday night against Miami.
What did you think?
I didn’t mind the white tops and pants at all. The helmets were awful and the shoes were the same. What will they look like next week? The uniforms will be a story, I bet, each and every week this year.
As far as the action, I thought Danny O’Brien played a heckuva game — one of the best by a Maryland QB in a long time. Right now, however, I would say the Maryland defense might be a little suspect.