Red Sox 7, Diamondbacks 4

 

We finally did it! Broke the three-game losing streak and avoided the sweep! I knew we could do it!

It didn't look like a sure thing most of the game. It took a three-run seventh to take a 4-3 lead, but then we gave the tying run up in the bottom of the inning. It took another three-run inning, the ninth, powered by Nick Sogard to take the lead, and an Aroldis Chapman appearance at the plate to lock down the win. Chapman's ERA, by the way, is now down to 0.98 after 60 games, which is absolutely amazing.

However, the Yankees beat Toronto last night, so we remain 1½ behind New York, although we're now only 3½  behind the Jays, as if that matters. 

Seattle destroyed the Atlanta Braves yesterday, 18-2, so the Mariners remain 3½ back from the Sox in the Wild Card standings. They play St. Louis (72-72) tonight and will probably keep the pressure on Boston. The Yankees are off today because they suck, but will host Detroit (82-62) for three starting tomorrow.

But no worries because it's Crochet Day! Granted, it's been two starts since he's gotten a W, probably costing him a 20-win season, but there's still no one else I'd rather see on the mound against the Oakland A's tonight. Crochet (14-5, 2.67) will face rookie Oakland pitcher Luis Morales (3-0, 1.59). To repeat the mantra from yesterday, since it seems the message is finally starting to come through. we need W-I-N-S, boyos. Let's sweep this 66-78, last-place franchise!

Raiders 20, Patriots 13

 

This was a confusing game for me. I kept trying to cheer for the Patriots, but the Raiders kept throwing the ball to former Georgia Bulldog Brock Bowers, who gained 103 yards on 5 receptions. Former Georgia Bulldog Zamir White got eight yards rushing on three carries. Former New England Patriot Jakobi Meyers (NC State) ran for 97 yards on eight carries. Meanwhile, who have I got on my side to cheer for - Drake Maye?  

Maye (North Carolina) threw for 287 yards on 30-for-46 passing, throwing for one TD and one interception. Kayshon Boutte (LSU) led all receivers with 103 yards. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State) rushed for 27 yards and Rhamondre Stevenson (Oklahoma) for 15.  

The game started promisingly enough. The Raiders scored first, but New England's Jaylinn Hawkins (Cal) intercepted Raiders QB Geno Smith (West Virginia) on his second drive, and New England drove the ball 78 yards for a two-yard Drake Maye TD to DeMario Douglas (Liberty). Tied game, and it felt like anything was possible.

"Anything" turned out to be not very much, just a pair of field goals for the whole rest of the game. 

So we start Week One with new head coach Mike Vrable (Ohio State) in a 0-1 hole. Season's young - we still have 16 more games to go in the NFL's 17-game season. 

Next week, we play the Miami Dolphins, who got their asses handed to then, 33-8, today, so we still have a chance. Not writing this team off after a single loss, but they've done little the past several years to give me much confidence, either.    

Yeva, Resigned

 

Right now, at this very moment, Ella Hibbert and the Yeva are rounding Alaska's Point Barrow, the northernmost point of the United States and the North American mainland. She's currently at latitude 71° 24'. Unfortunately, every latitude hereafter will be lower.

This morning, Ella announced that after months of pushing through equipment failures in Greenland, and storms, ice, and even a grounding in the Northwest Passage, she's behind schedule and she and her team have made the difficult decision not to attempt the Northeast Passage over Russia this year. She and the Yeva will finish their season in Alaska, prepare for winter, and then return next summer to complete the solo Arctic Ocean circumnavigation.

The tipping point was when the Russian Deputy General for Navigation of the Northern Sea Route, the authority granting permission through Russian waters, warned that new ice was already forming in the Kara and Laptev Seas, and advised against sailing the Northeast Passage. Should she try, the best-case scenario would be she hits a dead end somewhere in the ice field and has to turn around; the worst-case is she gets stuck in the ice. "When the Russian Deputy General for Navigation of the Northern Sea Route advises against it, that's not the kind of advice you ignore," she stated.

Despite the setback, Ella’s still the first British woman to sail the Northwest Passage solo, and along with Tamara Klink and a handful of others, one of the very few people in history to have done so.

Tamara and the Sardinha 2 have already rounded Point Barrow and are about 45 miles ahead of the Yeva. Her plan is to continue southwest to Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost continental point of the United States and the North American mainland, and from there straight south into the Pacific. Her goal was always to complete the Northwest Passage, which she has, and not a circumnavigation like Ella. "I think we’ve crossed the last pieces of ice of this trip," she noted.

The Yeva will probably winter somewhere on the Pacific coast, probably in Alaska or Canada, before attempting the Northeast Passage in 2026. I have no idea where Tamara is off to next after she enters the Pacific.   

Hats off and sincerest congratulations to both Ella Hibbert and the Yeva, and to Tamara Klink and the Sardinha 2, for their challenging and arduous journey. They're both burlap heroes for braving what few of us could even imagine.

Diamondbacks 5, Red Sox 1

 

Okay, for some reason, it seems the message isn't getting through, so I'll make it simple, as Al Davis simple as I can: Just win, baby! We need wins, not losses. Your mission, Boston, should you choose to accept it or not, is to W-I-N these road games while the Yankees and Blue Jays are duking it out up in Toronto.

But for some reason, the Red Sox went off mission last night and lost their game in Arizona to the Diamondbacks, 5-1. All the offense could do all game was a Yoshida one-run RBI single in the third, and Giolito gave up four runs in five innings for the loss. 

The Yankees beat Toronto, 3-1, last night, so the Sox didn't lose any ground to the Blue Jays, but winning the division isn't a realistic goal for this team. With their loss and New York's win, Boston fell a game and a half behind the Yankees in the Wild Card standings. We'd still make the playoffs if the season ended with the standings as they are right now, but we're only 3½ ahead of Seattle with 18 games left to the season, and half of those games are against Toronto (82-60), Detroit (82-61), and New York (79-63). It's not the time to be losing to .500-level teams.

C'mon, Boston! Toughen up and avoid the indignity of getting swept by Arizona at a time when we most need to be doing the sweeping!  Bello (11-6, 3.07) goes against the D-back's Ryne Nelson (7-3, 3.57) this afternoon. Hit some homers! Throw strikeouts! Win the motherfucking game, and then we move on to Oakland to sweep the A's (66-77), the weakest team we'll see for the rest of this season.

Chaos!

 

Just when you thought the world was normal, Florida loses, 18-16, on a South Florida field goal as time expires.

Now, I'm a Georgia Bulldog fan so by definition I hate the Florida Gators, just like I hate the New York Yankees by virtue of being a Boston Red Sox fan. So why am I so shook about Florida losing a Week 2 game?

Because the loss makes the South Florida Bulls the lineal college football champions. In some sports, such as boxing, rather than have a playoff or a complex balloting method, the champion is deemed to be the competitor who defeated the preceding champion. The very first college football game ever played was a November 6, 1869 game between Rutgers and Princeton. Rutgers won, 6-4 (the rules were a lot different back then) and would have been given the belt if championship belts were awarded like heavyweight boxers after a bout. 

Some people was far more time on their hands than I have followed that imaginary belt's progress from game to game over the years. It went to Princeton the very next week, and then to Yale seven years later. In the century and a half since then, the belt has gone all around the country and from conference to conference. The Georgia Bulldogs won it away from Texas last October 19, but then lost it on November 9 to Ole Miss. Ole Miss lost it two weeks after that to the Florida Gators, who've had it since then, that is, until today.

I would like to see Georgia get the belt back, just like I imagine everyone would like to see their team win the belt. Georgia plays Florida later this season in the annual rivalry game, and had Florida not lost the belt, that would have been the chance for the Bulldogs to reclaim the belt. But although I had little confidence in Florida going undefeated until that game, I felt confident that if they lost it to an SEC team, we would still have had a chance to win it.

But no, now the South Florida Bulls of the Atlantic Athletic Conference have the precious belt. The Bulldogs don't play the Bulls this season (or ever as far as I know) and the Bulls are very, very unlikely to go to the CFP (despite how some of their fans are probably feeling right now after their big win). They're also unlikely to go undefeated all season and keep the belt, but we don't play any of the teams on their schedule, should one of those teams win the championship belt from the Bulls. 

The Miami Hurricanes play the Bulls next weekend and will take the belt away (the point spread doesn't matter in the lineal championship). The only SEC team (and chance for Georgia to get a shot at the belt this season) that Miami plays this season is Florida the week after the South Florida game, and wouldn't it be ironic (and unlikely) for Florida to win the belt right back so they could bring it to the Georgia game after all? 

If that doesn't happen (I wouldn't bet on it), our next best shot is to hope Miami goes undefeated and keeps the belt, and we get to play them in the playoffs. But even if both Georgia and Miami make it to the playoffs, it's not at all a sure bet that we'd get the chance to play each other, but wouldn't it be something for Miami QB Carson Beck to face his old team for the 2025 National Championship and with the lineal championship belt on the line? 

Anyway, it's crazy-pants chaos out there right now. The South Georgia Bulls are the college football lineal champions! Who'd a thunk it?

Georgia 28, Austin Peay 6

 

Georgia wins, but not impressively. In fact, like many of our wins last season, we won ugly. The Bulldogs failed to cover the spread by 18½ points which I don't care about from a gambling perspective (I don't bet on games), but it's as good an indicator as any that we should have been better.

The Bulldogs are 2-0 and Gunner Stockton completed 26 of 34 passes (76.5%) for 227 yards. But this game will be remembered mostly for the end of the first half, when the Dawgs got the ball to the Austin Peay one-yard line with 32 seconds left to play, but couldn't score a single point after five plays. Even after a long, long halftime due to a nearly two-hour rain delay, Smart couldn't get the team fired up, as they played about as listlessly in the second half as they did in the first. To be honest, it was only the defense that kept us in the game.

Many are blaming the disappointing performance of OC Mike Bobo; others blame o-line coach Stacy Searels. Preseason prognosticators were split between doubting Georgia over QB Stockton and over last year's o-line performance. Today's game gave reasons to support both groups of doubters.

Georgia started its season with two cupcake teams - Marshall and Austin Peay. We're going to have to play a whole lot better on both sides of the ball than we did the last two weeks as we start our SEC schedule next Saturday in Tennessee.

The Vols won their game today, 72-17, over East Tennessee State, and won last weekend, 45-26, over Syracuse.  The Bulldogs will face them in Knoxville next weekend, home field, and unless some some major changes are made to Georgia's game, the Vols will be take a double-digit lead over the Dawgs.

The best case: Smart is a great coach, one of the all-time best, and if anyone can do what has to be done between now and then, it's him. Also, Georgia seems to play it's best game against the toughest opponents. Let's hope that trend continues to next weekend.

Diamondbacks 10, Red Sox 5

 

Look, just in case there was any confusion regarding the strategy for this weekend, Boston was supposed to sweep this series and move up the AL East standings while New York and Toronto battle it out against  each other. Okay, got it? Stop with the losing games, alright?  

I have to admire the Sox' spunk, though, rallying back in the top of the eighth from a 5-1 deficit with four runs on five hits. However, I have to say I'm disappointed in reliever Justin Slaten, giving up four runs in the bottom of the eighth and putting the game out of reach.

Rookie Payton Tolle (0-1, 7.56) gave up five runs in three innings and gets his first loss in his second major-league start.

Toronto demolished New York last night, 7-1, so at least we didn't fall any further behind the Yankees in the standings (we trail them by a ½ game), but this is a time when we're supposed to be gaining ground, not breaking even.

Fun fact: Although in third place in the AL East, the Red Sox (78-64) have the same number of wins as the talent-rich Dodgers (78-63), who are in first place in the NL West. And they say the AL East isn't a tough division . . . 

Okay, so let's try this again. Tonight, Giolito (10-2, 3.38) takes the mound for Boston against Arizona spelling error Brandon Pfaadt (12-8, 5.33). All that the Yankees have to counter Toronto and Chris Bassitt (11-7, 4.10) is Luis Gil (2-1, 3.68). The script, since I apparently have to spell it out, is for Boston to win, not lose, and for the Yankees to lose again, so that the Sox can move back up into second place.

Alright, got it? Let's play some ball.

Arctic Update

 

Ella Hibbert and the Yeva have crossed the Canadian boundary and are now in U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska. Welcome to America, Ella, please have your citizenship papers ready and available for inspection, and hope you don't have any health-care issues until you clear Alaska and sail across Russia all the way to Finland. 

Tamara Klink and the Sardinha 2 are also off the Alaskan coast, although some 150 miles further west (it's not a race, but Tamara is leading).  I thought she would stop at Prudhoe Bay for supplies and rest, but she sailed right on past the port and is continuing west.

After the storms and grounding and other drama of the last week, things are going fairly smoothly for both ships. Headwinds have caused both sailors to have to tack at times, and currents are as likely to run against them as with them, but both are making steady progress.

Cleveland 8, Red Sox 1

 

In retrospect, maybe starting Brennan Bernardino in this game after he pitched an inning of relief the night before wasn't the best of ideas. Bernie only lasted ⅔ of an inning and 17 pitches before he had to be pulled, exhausting the bullpen and eventually requiring starter Dustin May to come in and pitch three innings of relief.

Cleveland scored six runs in the second inning alone, while Bregman, Story, and Rafaela all went hitless the entire game. The Guardians won, 8-1.

Worse, it was confirmed that rookie phenom Roman Anthony will be out for four to six weeks (i.e., the rest of the regular season) with a left oblique strain. Anthony's midseason debut in the majors seemed to be the spark that lifted the Sox out of the .500 doldrums they were in and into playoff contention.

Toronto won last night, so Boston is now 3½ games back from first place. The only "good" news, "good" only because it isn't "bad," is the Yankees lost to Houston, so at least we didn't fall back any further behind them (we trail New York by a mere .001 percent in the standings). We probably never had a realistic shot at winning the division anyway, but we're still very much in the running for a Wild Card playoff spot. 

The "bad" news, "bad" because it isn't "good," is that Boston lost an opportunity to take full advantage of the Yankees' tough schedule. The Sox are off today, but New York still has one more game against Houston (77-63). An Astros win tonight would put the Red Sox into second place in the AL East, and a half game ahead on New York in the Wild Card standings. 

Starting tomorrow, the Yanks have three against Toronto (81-59), and then three against Detroit (81-60), all at home, while we play Arizona (70-71) and the A's (64-77) on the road. Despite their home field advantage, we still have the easier schedule for the next week. We need to capitalize on that advantage. 

Red Sox 11, Guardians 7

 

A win is a win is a win, but WTF was that all about? The Red Sox won the game, 11-7, but blew a four-run lead when pitching ace Garrett Crochet gave up three homers for six runs in a single inning, the sixth, giving Cleveland a two run lead. Fortunately, Rafaela hit a two-run homer in the seventh to tie the game back up, and then the Sox erupted for four more runs in the eighth to win the game, but our faith in Crochet has been shaken.  

Garrett Crochet hasn't gotten a win since August 23 in New York, and has scored only one win in his last five starts. Hope everything's okay with our main man.

Meanwhile, the Yankees crushed Houston, 7-1, and Toronto beat Cincy, 12-9, so nothing's changed in the standings - New York and Boston are still tied for second, 2½ back from the Blue Jays. We need to keep on winning, and rely on the difficulty-of-schedule disadvantage New York and Toronto have coming up to make the difference for us.

You hear that, Brennan Bernardino? Wins, we need wins. Bernie (4-2, 3.05) pitched a perfect hitless ninth inning against the Tribe the Guardians last night, getting Nolan Jones, Austin Hedges, and lead-off batter Steven Kwan to all fly out, but is still our designated started tonight despite the lack of rest. He'll be facing Cleveland's Joey Cantillo (3-3, 3.93). Way back on April 27, the only time he faced Boston, Cantillo  struck out Devers, Story, and Refsnyder but gave up a three-run homer to Rafaela in two innings of relief. The Sox won the game, 13-3.

Georgia Moves to No. 4

 

Now that Week 1 of the 2025 CFB season is complete, the AP has come out with the first sportswriters' poll of the season. 

To pretty much no one's surprise, after beating Texas, 14-7, on Saturday, Ohio State moved up from No. 3 to the No. 1 spot, hopscotching Penn State, who stayed at No. 2. 

No. 4 Clemson also lost Saturday, a 17-10 game with No. 9 LSU. But even though No. 5 Georgia won their game, 45-7 over Marshall, and two higher-ranked teams lost, Georgia did not move up to No. 3 in today's poll. Instead, the AP vaulted LSU past Georgia to be the new No. 3, and the Bulldogs moved up only one spot to No. 4.

No. 4 is not a bad place to be in the first week of the season. There's some 130 other college teams that aren't ranked that high. Yes, I'm biased, but I still think that Georgia should have moved from No. 5 up to No. 3, and LSU from No. 9 up to No. 4.

It could be worse. Arizona State, SMU, and Michigan all won their games this weekend but were each dropped one spot in the rankings because of reasons.

What else? Notre Dame lost, dropping from No. 6 to No. 9, and Carson Beck's Miami team was rewarded with the No. 5 spot for their service. Unranked Florida State entered the rankings at No. 14 for beating No. 8 Alabama, who dropped all the way down to 21. The Tide hasn't been that low since like forever.

It's a long season. We have a 12-team playoff system. Early season polls are close to meaningless. In fact, any poll other than the Selection Committee rankings are meaningless. But still, this is a sports blog, and talking about this kind of shit is what we do.  

   

     

Yeva, Afloat Again

 

Good news! At 11:00 am local time today, Ella was reunited with Yeva thanks to the Canadian Coast Guard. The Yeva is free of the shoal on which it ran aground, and after some thorough checks, it was determined that the Yeva only sustained minor damage during the Coast Guard’s attempts to come alongside on Sunday night in difficult conditions. Ella is in good spirits and is able to continue safely as she now continues onwards under her own sail.

She has sailed around the north side of Pullen Island to avoid any more shoals and shallow water between the island and the mainland to the south (Tamara Klink safely passed the south side of Pullen on Sunday, before Ella ran aground). 

Speaking of, Tamara and the Sardinha 2 have made it all the way to Alaska! Welcome to the USA, Tamara. The Canadian Ice Service charts, which kindly also include the Alaska coast, shows that the sea ice that was near Prudhoe Bay has drifted out to sea away from the coast, but now you have a new type of ICE to worry about. Be careful!