Bored

Georgia Tech - iggymcfly THURSDAY USC at Oregon State FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville SATURDAY Virginia at Duke North Carolina at Miami Northwestern at Iowa Purdue at Notre Dame Colorado vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at UCLA TCU at Oklahoma South Florida at N.C. State Alabama at Georgia Illinois at Penn State Virginia Tech at Nebraska Stanford at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 40 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 406 Indiana - Tzar Lysergic THURSDAY USC FRIDAY Connecticut SATURDAY Virginia at Miami at Iowa at Notre Dame Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at Oklahoma South Florida at Georgia at Penn State Virginia Tech at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 34 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 335 LSU - teke184 THURSDAY USC at Oregon State FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville SATURDAY Virginia at Duke North Carolina at Miami Northwestern at Iowa Purdue at Notre Dame Colorado vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at UCLA TCU at Oklahoma South Florida at N.C. State Alabama at Georgia Illinois at Penn State Virginia Tech at Nebraska Stanford at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 52 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 242 Florida State - 909 THURSDAY USC at Oregon State FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville SATURDAY Virginia at Duke North Carolina at Miami Northwestern at Iowa Purdue at Notre Dame Colorado vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at UCLA TCU at Oklahoma South Florida at N.C. State Alabama at Georgia Illinois at Penn State Virginia Tech at Nebraska Stanford at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 42 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 260 N.C. State - AboveAverage484 THURSDAY USC at Oregon State FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville SATURDAY Virginia at Duke North Carolina at Miami Northwestern at Iowa Purdue at Notre Dame Colorado vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at UCLA TCU at Oklahoma South Florida at N.C. State Alabama at Georgia Illinois at Penn State Virginia Tech at Nebraska Stanford at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 45 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 294 Washington State - MrRant THURSDAY USC FRIDAY Louisville SATURDAY Virginia Miami Iowa Purdue Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State Oklahoma South Florida Georgia Penn State Nebraska Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 37 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 200

Minnesota - Vern Gagne THURSDAY USC at Oregon State FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville SATURDAY Virginia at Duke North Carolina at Miami Northwestern at Iowa Purdue at Notre Dame Colorado vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at UCLA TCU at Oklahoma South Florida at N.C. State Alabama at Georgia Illinois at Penn State Virginia Tech at Nebraska Stanford at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game?45 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 288 Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff USC UConn Duke Miami Iowa Purdue Colorado Fresno State Oklahoma South Florida Alabama Penn State Virginia Tech Stanford TB #1: 53 TB #2: 269

Miami of Ohio - Hawk 34 THURSDAY USC at Oregon State FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville SATURDAY Virginia at Duke North Carolina at Miami Northwestern at Iowa Purdue at Notre Dame Colorado vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at UCLA TCU at Oklahoma South Florida at N.C. State Alabama at Georgia Illinois at Penn State Virginia Tech at Nebraska Stanford at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 42 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 256 Buffalo - Carnival THURSDAY USC at Oregon State FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville SATURDAY Virginia at Duke North Carolina at Miami Northwestern at Iowa Purdue at Notre Dame Colorado vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at UCLA TCU at Oklahoma South Florida at N.C. State Alabama at Georgia Illinois at Penn State Virginia Tech at Nebraska Stanford at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game?56 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU?280

Washington - Smues THURSDAY USC FRIDAY Connecticut SATURDAY Virginia Miami Iowa Purdue Florida State Fresno State Oklahoma South Florida Georgia Penn State Virginia Tech Stanford Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 51 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 274 Florida - Urban Warfare THURSDAY USC FRIDAY Louisville SATURDAY Duke Miami Northwestern Purdue Colorado Fresno State Oklahoma South Florida Georgia Penn State Virginia Tech Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? 44 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU? 320

ESABCPN Coverage Maps

Now on to relief pitchers and it's not surprising the majority of these season come before the Dennis Eckersley era of closers. In fact you won't find Eck or Mariano Rivera in the Top 20 but the list should give you a better appreciation for Dan Quisenberry. Maybe the most impressive season on the list though is by Eric Gagne's 2003 year as he did it in only 82 1/3 innings. Also reminds you how far he has fallen. Top 20 Relief Pitcher Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares) 1. Dan Quisenberry, 1983 - Kansas City Royals 27.8 Win Shares Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB ERA *ERA+ WHIP +--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+ 1983 30 KCR AL 5 3 69 0 0 0 62 45 139.0 118 35 30 6 11 48 0 0 536 2 1.94 210 0.928 2. Eric Gagne, 2003 - Los Angeles Dodgers 25.0 3. Jim Kern, 1979 - Texas Rangers 24.9 4. Doug Corbett, 1980 - Minnesota Twins 24.0 5. Willie Hernandez, 1984 - Detroit Tigers 24.0 6. Dan Quisenberry, 1984 - Kansas City Royals 23.7 7. Dan Quisenberry, 1985 - Kansas City Royals 23.1 8. Bruce Sutter, 1984 - St. Louis Cardinals 23.0 9. Mike Marshall, 1979 - Minnesota Twins 22.7 10. Bruce Sutter, 1979 - Chicago Cubs 22.4 11. Jeff Montgomery, 1993 - Kansas City Royals 22.3 12. Bob James, 1985 - Chicago White Sox 21.8 13. Dan Quisenberry, 1982 - Kansas City Royals 21.5 14. John Wetteland, 1993 - Montreal Expos 21.4 15. Keith Foulke, 2003 - Oakland A's 21.4 16. Mark Eichhorn, 1986 - Toronto Blue Jays 21.0 17. Jeff Shaw, 1997 - Cincinnati Reds 20.9 18. Sid Monge, 1979 - Cleveland Indians 20.8 19. Greg Minton, 1982 - San Francisco Giants 20.7 20. Bob Stanley, 1983 - Boston Red Sox 20.7

My Picks USC Louisville Virginia Miami Iowa Notre Dame Florida State Fresno State Oklahoma South Florida Georgia Penn State Virginia Tech Stanford 47/294

I'm guessing they probably have had at least one game on ESPN in the last few years but it's probably been a while since FOX televised one of their games. On the other hand FOX did show a Royals game in August this year and they are pretty much the A.L. equivalent of the Pirates.

OMG two entries in one day, I'm out of control! This year I decided to track the number of games that each team had televised by MLB's three television partners. The final week's schedule was finalized today so figured I'd actually post the final "standings" for the year. I thought it'd be better to post it on the blog rather than the TWiB form because we don't need another debate of the overexposure of two certain teams from the Northeast and God knows I've instigated a few of those debates. Note there was only one team in MLB that did not have a single game televised by ESPN, FOX, or TBS. Try to guess before scrolling down to find out who. Really shouldn't surprise anyone. ESPN (76 Games) 17 Games: Cubs, Red Sox 15: Yankees 11: Phillies 10: Dodgers, Mets 9: Rays 7: Angels, Brewers 6: Cardinals, Tigers, White Sox 5: Twins 4: Astros, Braves, Indians 2: Athletics, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rangers 1: Giants, Nationals, Orioles, Rockies FOX (66 Games) 10: Phillies 9: Red Sox, Tigers, Yankees 8: Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers 7: Angels, Cubs, Mets 6: Diamondbacks, Twins, White Sox 5: Brewers, Indians 3: Mariners, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies 2: Orioles, Royals 1: Athletics, Marlins, Nationals TBS (26 Games) 8: Red Sox 5: White Sox, Yankees 4: Phillies 3: Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cubs, Marlins 2: Angels, Braves, Dodgers, Mets 1: Athletics, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Indians, Mariners, Orioles, Rays, Reds, Tigers, Twins Totals 34: Red Sox 29: Yankees 27: Cubs 25: Phillies 20: Dodgers 19: Mets 17: Cardinals, White Sox 16: Angels, Tigers 14: Braves, Twins 13: Brewers, Rays 10: Indians 9: Diamondbacks 5: Blue Jays, Padres 4: Astros, Athletics, Mariners, Marlins, Orioles, Reds, Rockies 2: Nationals, Rangers, Royals 1: Giants 0: Pirates

Also ESPN picked up Cubs/Brewers for their Friday game and TBS picked Yankees/Red Sox for Sunday.

FOX officially added the Nationals/Phillies game to their schedule for Saturday along with Cubs/Brewers and Yankees/Red Sox. All games will have the normal FOX start time of 3:55 PM EST.

God dammit. I've been using the Historic Win Shares spreadsheet from baseballgraphs.com and I think it's been compiled by multiple people as I now see that for 2005 they don't list anyone as a DH. In fact checking Hardball Times they did the same that year for some reason as Oritz is listed as a first baseman. And as I look further the spreadsheet doesn't list DHs for 2004 either and Ortiz had 25.1 Win Shares that season so also add that to the list.

You know I should probably finish this up this week being that the 2008 season ends on Sunday which will make these lists out of date. But hey that also means it'll be time to work on my "famous" Bored Player Rankings which will just serve as a painful reminder of how bad the A's offense was this year. Top 20 Designated Hitter Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares) 1. Frank Thomas, 1991 - Chicago White Sox 33.8 Win Shares Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP +--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+ 1991 23 CHW AL 158 559 104 178 31 2 32 109 1 2 138 112 .318 .453 .553 180 309 0 2 13 1 20 2. Frank Thomas, 2000 - Chicago White Sox 33.7 3. Edgar Martinez, 1995 - Seattle Mariners 31.7 4. David Ortiz, 2005 - Boston Red Sox 31.6 5. Rafael Palmeiro, 1999 - Texas Rangers 31.1 6. Paul Molitor, 1991 - Milwaukee Brewers 29.6 7. David Ortiz, 2006 - Boston Red Sox 29.4 8. Paul Molitor, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 29.4 9. David Ortiz, 2007 - Boston Red Sox 28.9 10. Paul Molitor, 1987 - Milwaukee Brewers 28.6 11. Paul Molitor, 1992 - Milwaukee Brewers 28.4 12. Edgar Martinez, 2000 - Seattle Mariners 28.2 13. Dave Winfield, 1992 - Toronto Blue Jays 26.7 14. Edgar Martinez, 1997 - Seattle Mariners 26.6 15. Hal McRae, 1982 - Kansas City Royals 26.1 16. Jim Thome, 2006 - Chicago White Sox 26.0 17. Manny Ramirez, 2001 - Boston Red Sox 25.1 18. David Ortiz, 2004 - Boston Red Sox 25.1 19. Travis Hafner, 2006 - Cleveland Indians 25.0 20. Frank Thomas, 1998 - Chicago White Sox 24.7

We do have three Top 25 match-ups this week but overall this isn't a very compelling week. Obviously the biggest game is once again from the SEC with Alabama taking on Georgia but unfortunately we are again stuck with Mike Patrick instead of Uncle Verne. Also Penn State will play their first opponent with a pulse in Illinois as the Nittany Lions have the chance to solidify themselves as a Top 15 team. Finally Oklahoma hosts TCU, the overlooked "BCS Buster" in the Mountain West but the story of the game will likely just be how long the Horned Frogs can keep it close rather than if they can actually pull off the upset. Network/Basic Cable Schedule THURSDAY #1 USC at Oregon State, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville, 8:00/5:00 PM ESPN2 SATURDAY Michigan State at Indiana, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN North Carolina at Miami, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 Army at Texas A&M, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM, Versus Tennessee at #15 Auburn, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS Purdue at Notre Dame, 3:30/12:30 PM, NBC #9 Wisconsin at Michigan, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN Colorado vs. Florida State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN* Arkansas at #7 Texas, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* #25 Fresno State at UCLA/3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* Florida A&M vs. Tennessee State, 4:00/1:00 PM, Versus #24 TCU at #2 Oklahoma, 7:00/4:00 PM, FSN Mississippi State at #5 LSU, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2 #8 Alabama at #3 Georgia, 7:45/4:45 PM, ESPN #22 Illinois at #12 Penn State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC* Virginia Tech at Nebraska, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC* Digital Cable/Satellite/GamePlan Schedule THURSDAY SMU at Tulane, 8:00/5:00 PM, CBSCS Alabama State at Mississippi Valley State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPNU FRIDAY Hofstra at Stony Brook, 7:00/4:00 PM, FCS Atlantic SATURDAY Northwestern at Iowa, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN Classic Virginia at Duke, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPNU Minnesota at #14 Ohio State, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN Maryland at #20 Clemson, Noon/9:00 AM, Raycom*/GP Pittsburgh at Syracuse, Noon/9:00 AM, GP Kent State at Ball State, Noon/9:00 AM, GP Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan, Noon/9:00 AM, GP Mississippi at #4 Florida, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM, Raycom*/GP Houston at #23 East Carolina, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBSCS Marshall at West Virginia, 3:30/12:30 PM, GP Morgan State at Rutgers, 3:30/12:30 PM, GP Navy at #16 Wake Forest, 3:45/12:45 PM, ESPNU Bowling Green at Wyoming, 4:00/1:00 PM, Mtn. Lehigh at Princeton, 6:00/3:00 PM, FCS Central Oregon at Washington State, 6:15/3:15 PM, FCS Pacific UAB at South Carolina, 7:00/4:00 PM, GP Western Kentucky at Kentucky, 7:00/4:00 PM, GP #13 South Florida at N.C. State, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPNU UCF at UTEP, 8:00/5:00 PM, CBSCS Stanford at Washington, 10:00/7:00 PM, FCS Pacific Nevada at UNLV, 10:00/7:00 PM, Mtn. All Other Div. I-A Games SATURDAY Rhode Island at Boston College, ESPN360 VMI at Ohio Western Michigan at Temple Arkansas State at Memphis Cincinnati at Akron UL Lafayette at Kansas State Buffalo at Central Michigan North Texas at Rice Colorado State at California Central Arkansas at Tulsa FIU at Toledo Troy at Oklahoma State Weber State at #17 Utah Idaho at San Diego State New Mexico at New Mexico State San Jose State at Hawaii

You should be banished forever for your blasphemy! Derek Jeter dove into the stands for your sins!!!!

Also that year the Cardinals didn't make the playoffs despite having the best overall record in the N.L. East and the Royals made the playoffs with a losing overall record of 50-53, 4th best in the A.L. West.

As long as the 7pm start time stays intact, I have tickets for that game. Their official line up is announced tommorrow and I'm fairly certain any games they pick up the start time will be moved to accomodate their normal timeslot for FOX Saturday Baseball. Not sure when ESPN picks their Friday game or when TBS picks their Sunday game (or if they even will do a game).

I think the Rams might actually be worse than the Lions, a shame those two don't play each other this year. But I really felt bad for Detroit fans watching that game. It's been a long time since the 49ers just dominated an opponent from start to finish.

It's a Free Point Thursday this week although I think we had two or three of those last year where the major upset ended happening. Week 5 Deadlines Deadline #1: Thursday, September 25th, 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST -Lose out on Thursday game. Deadline #2: Friday, September 26th, 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST -Lose out on Friday game. Deadline #3: Saturday, September 27th, Noon EST/9:00 AM PST -Replacement picks, can't win by tiebreak. Week 5 Match-ups #5 N.C. State* PM (AboveAverage484, 3-1) vs. #9 Georgia Tech* PM (iggymcfly, 3-1) - GAME OF THE WEEK #1 Ball State* (Vamprio69, 4-0) vs. Kent State* (JHawk, 0-4) #2 Nebraska* (Mecca, 4-0) vs. Texas* (Broward83, 2-2) #3 Ohio State* (Gert T, 4-0) vs. Minnesota* PM (Vern Gagne, 2-2) #4 Arizona* (UZI Suicide, 3-1) vs. Kentucky* (Danville Wrestling, 2-2) #6 Alabama* PM (AlwaysPissedOff, 3-1) vs. Georgia* (Obi Chris Kenobi, 0-4) #7 Miami of Ohio* PM (Hawk 34, 3-1) vs. Tulsa* (Will Scarlet, 1-3) #8 Virginia* (Edwin MacPhisto, 3-1) vs. Florida State* PM (909, 1-3) #10 Indiana* PM (Tzar Lysergic, 3-1) vs. Michigan* (MFer, 2-2) Arizona State* (still fly, 4-0) vs. Notre Dame* (KingPK, 2-2) Buffalo* PM (Carnival, 2-2) vs. South Carolina* (Cuban Linx, 1-3) Tennessee (Canadian Brandon, 3-1) vs. LSU* PM (teke184, 2-2) Stanford* (Bored, 2-2) vs. Washington* PM (Smues, 1-3) Fresno State* (Agent Bond34, 3-1) vs. UCLA* (phoenixrising, 2-2) Rutgers* (the pinjockey, 2-2) vs. San Diego State* (Next USC #55, 2-2) Miami* (Spaceman Spiff, 2-2) vs. Boston College* (HarleyQuinn, 2-2) Navy* (MarvinisaLunatic, 2-2) vs. Florida* PM (Urban Warfare, 1-3) Washington State (MrRant, 2-2) vs. Boise State* (Vitamin X, 1-3) Syracuse* (CanadianChris, 1-3) vs. Illinois* (The Monkey Man, 0-4) USC* (Cartman, 0-4) vs. UTEP* (Angel Grace Blue, 0-4) Week 5 Games to Make Picks For THURSDAY USC at Oregon State FRIDAY Connecticut at Louisville SATURDAY Virginia at Duke North Carolina at Miami Northwestern at Iowa Purdue at Notre Dame Colorado vs. Florida State (in Jacksonville) Fresno State at UCLA TCU at Oklahoma South Florida at N.C. State Alabama at Georgia Illinois at Penn State Virginia Tech at Nebraska Stanford at Washington Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Alabama/Georgia game? Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against TCU?

Next week.

After two insufferably Boring weeks where everything went seemingly to form, everything got turned upside down this week as only three Top 10 teams survive and we go from eleven unbeatens to only four. On the other hand as many upsets as we had, the new rankings actually aren't too surprising except for one major CONTROVERSY~ that could shake the core of the BCS like never before! still fly is 4-0 and unranked...because of the secret anti-Oakland Raider fan bias rating I've thrown in the "formula" mwahahahahaha! Or its because he's 20th in correct pick %. In other news, for the first time this year there is no change at the top. Bored Championship Series Rankings thru Week 4 1. Ball State - Vampiro69 2.3 2. Nebraska - Mecca 3.2 3. Ohio State - Gert T 4.1 4. Arizona - UZI Suicide 4.9 5. N.C. State - AboveAverage484 4.95 6. Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff 5.8 7. Miami of Ohio - Hawk 34 6.3 8. Virginia - Edwin MacPhisto 6.4 9. Georgia Tech - iggymcfly 6.55 10. Indiana - Tzar Lysergic 6.7 Other Receiving Votes: Arizona State (still fly), Buffalo (Carnival), Michigan (MFer), Tennessee (Canadian Brandon)

Week 4 Results #1 Ball State (Vampiro69) 10, #9 Indiana (Tzar Lysergic) 9 #8 Ohio State (Gert T) 9, #4 Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto) 8 UCLA (phoenixrising) 10, #2 Arizona (UZI Suicide) 9 Miami of Ohio (Hawk 34) 10, #3 N.C. State (AboveAverage484) 9 Washington (Smues) 9, #5 Georgia Tech (iggymcfly) 8 #6 Nebraska (Mecca) 9, Washington State (MrRant) 7 Florida (Urban Warfare) 9, #7 Tennessee (Canadian Brandon) 5 Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff) 10, #10 Fresno State (Agent Bond34) 7 Arizona State (still fly) 9, Georgia (Obi Chris Kenobi) 7 Tulsa (Will Scarlet) 11, Buffalo (Carnival) 11; Will wins by tiebreak Michigan (MFer) 10, LSU (teke184) 9 Boise State (Vitamin X) 7, Florida State (909) 7; VX wins by tiebreak Stanford (Bored) 10, South Carolina (Cuban Linx) 8 San Diego State (Next USC #55) 11, Syracuse (CanadianChris) 9 Rutgers (the pinjockey) 10, Navy (MarvinisaLunatic) 9 Miami (Spaceman Spiff) 8, Texas (Broward83) 7 Kentucky (Danville Wrestling) 8, UTEP (Angel Grace Blue) 7 Minnesota (Vern Gagne) 8, Kent State (JHawk) 5 Notre Dame (KingPK) 7, USC (Cartman) 7; PK wins by tiebreak Boston College (HarleyQuinn) 10, Illinois (The Monkey Man) 9

Figured this would be better updated here than in the CFB thread, Iowa State just marched 98 yards in under two minutes and tied the game up with three seconds left. Looks like I'm going to have to wait a little bit to post the results.

STANFORD~ comes back from a near insurmountable, ten point defecit in the 2nd quarter to beat mighty San Jose State 23-10. Emerald Bowl hopes still alive!

Bob Davie just called Wake Forest his "sleeper team" to win the ACC. Way to go out on limb picking the highest ranked team in the conference.