Theo, the "curse slayer"

Theo Epstein is apparently going to the Chicago Cubs. Can you imagine this guy's potential legacy if he wins a championship in the north side of Chicago? Can he kill the Cubs' curse after doing all of that in Boston? He would be the first official curse slayer in the history of sports. He went in as a kid to run the Redsox with his moneyball philosophy and won 2 championship. He became the proverbial "he doesn't have to ever pay again for a drink in that city" guy in Boston. But it's amazing how much of a pressure-cooker Boston is and how short people's memory are. After the historic collapse in September, I don't want to say people wanted him fired, but he had a bunch of problems on his hands. To be fair to the Bostonians, may be it was more a function of the collapse than people forgetting the 2 championships Theo brought home. Whatever it was, Theo has decided to move on. I can see why he would want to go to Chicago because the opportunity to do this at another storied franchise like the Chicago Cubs is unique. Also, even if he wins more championships in Boston, the payoff will not be what it was in 2004. So it's time for Theo to try something new and fresh. I am sure both teams will be fine as Boston will probably try to retain his deputies and continue with the program. The Cubs on the other hand can use Theo and his program. It may not guarantee them a championship, but I am sure Theo will take them closer to one.

On the field, the baseball playoffs have been interesting, but probably not the most watched. With the North Eastern teams like Boston, New York and Philly eliminated, I am sure the TV ratings are not pretty. But some games have been thrilling. Too bad the DBacks couldn't win on the road, but it took the Brewers 10 innings to eliminate them in game 5. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder were just too much for the DBacks the entire series. I would like the young Brewers to march on and win it all, but I don't know if I can handle their stupid "beast mode" after every big play. There have been many stupid sports celebrations, but this might be the worst! It's interesting how more and more of the MLB playoffs have moved to cable, much like what happened with the NBA a few years back. NFL seems to be marginalizing all other sports on TV. A Milwaukee-Detroit World Series would be MLB's worst nightmare from a TV ratings perspective and we might just get it. Detroit did lose game 4 today in 11 innings and is now trailing 3-1 to the Rangers. Nelson Cruz is killing them. He has homered in 2 11-Th innings in this series. What are the odds of 2 games going 11 innings in a 7-game series and featuring the same guy homering in both 11-Th innings? Bud Selig would say "only in baseball" and he might even be right, but I am not sure if anybody except Bud is watching these games.

The best news for MLB might be the NBA lockout. NBA seems to be committed to it's self-destructive ways and the league just canceled the first 2 weeks of the regular season. It took more than a decade for the league to recover some of it's lost popularity after the previous lockout and Jordan's retirement, and another lockout is the worst thing they could do at this stage. Thanks to LeBron's talents the last few years at Cleveland and then his stupidity surrounding his "taking his talents to south beach", NBA regained some of it's viewership. The playoffs last year was especially interesting because people had a set of villains - Miami Heat, to root against and they watched the show on TV. Now, the NBA decides to throw it all away by pissing off it's customers. Mainstream America, for the most part, hates NBA and it's players for whatever reason. Some of it is justified, but some of it is just perception and prejudice. But the point is, NBA cannot afford to anger and distance them further. NFL possibly can get away with it, but NBA can't. NBA's owners seem to be oblivious to this and are hell-bent on getting a good financial deal. They should be committed to getting a good deal, but I wish they had the common sense to be committed to not losing even a single game as well. That's apparently too much to ask and now, nobody cares that the NBA is locked out. Hopefully, some of us will care if and when they start playing again.

All this means more time for NFL and college football. There are a couple of states in the union doing great right now - Wisconsin and Michigan. Detroit is especially having a whale of a time in sports. The Detroit Tigers are in the ALCS, the Lions are 5-0 after many years of abject failure and even the Michigan Wolverines are 6-0 and are ranked pretty high. Same story in Wisconsin. The Brewers are in the NLCS, Packers are the only other undefeated team in the NFL with a 5-0 record and the Wisconsin Badgers are 5-0 and ranked 4-Th in the nation. Life is good in the mid-west. Both the Lions and the Packers are in the same division and they don't play their first game until Thanksgiving. I can't wait for that game. Should be a great one after years of bad Detroit football on turkey day. We may be looking at 2 undefeated teams that day or may be 2 teams with a combined 1 or 2 losses. There are other markets seeing a football revival as well. It always feels good to see small market Buffalo do well. Bay Area is enjoying a good season too as both the Raiders and the Niners are looking good after many years. Just like the Packers and the Lions, the Raiders and the Chargers don't play until late in the season and I expect those 2 games to be great and meaningful too. Who would have thought the game of week 6 would be Niners (4-1) at the Lions (5-0). Acid test for both maturing teams, but I expect the Lions to win at home. In college, ASU is going to Oregon for a matchup of ranked teams. Nobody beats Oregon at home. ASU's only hope might be that Oregon's RB LaMichael James might miss this game with an injury. It's a challenging game for the Devils with or without James. Lets see how they handle the pressure.