Monday, August 5, 2013

Last Place Update - August 5

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. This has been a week of streaks, so let's have some fun.

   The defending champion Kings of the Cellar 36-74 Houston Astros staved off a ferocious 0-10 collapse by the 40-69 Chicago White Sox to keep a 4.5 game lead on their quest for a repeat. The 43-67 Miami Marlins are inching their way off the radar, but not enough to shake the third place spot. Houston is 2-8 in their last ten games, losers of their last four. They are 6-25 since June 28 and the Astros still haven't won two games in a row since June 15-16. In their ten game losing streak, the White Sox are 1-13 since July 22. The former leader this season, the 43-67 Miami Marlins, are 5-5 in their last ten games, but lost their last two. Miami is 8-6 since July 22.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 50-61 Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are 1-9 in their last ten games, losing five straight. Philly is 1-13 since July 20. This week, they start the week hosting the Chicago Cubs and end the week at Washington, playing the Nationals. Will they start to win like last week's honorable mention, the Texas Rangers, did? Or will they rival the Chicago White Sox and continue their losing ways?

   We have a different honorable mention this week. Unlike the White Sox, the 67-45 Atlanta Braves have won ten games in a row. Atlanta is also 12-2 since July 22. This week, the Braves go to Washington to play the Nationals and then host the Miami Marlins. Washington will probably break the streak and with Miami's improving play, they could also get a win from the Braves.

  And then there was one. The only remaining team with fewer wins than the 1962 New York Mets and 2003 Detroit Tigers is Houston. The White Sox have the same number of wins as the '62 Mets. After 110 games, the '62 Mets and '03 Tigers were 29-81. The Astros and White Sox should make those records safe for another year in the next week or two.

Other Stuff...

Congrats to the 2013 NFL Hall of Fame inductees, Jonathan Ogden, Dave Robinson, Curley Culp, Bill Parcells, Larry Allen, Warren Sapp, and Cris Carter. All good choices here.

On a sad note, Hall of Famer Art Donovan died today at the age of 88. He was a DT for the Baltimore Colts and played from 1950-61. He played in "The Greatest Game Ever Played" which was the 1958 NFL Championship, when the Colts defeated the New York Giants in overtime 23-17. Donovan was in the Hall of Fame Class of 1968. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Donovan family.

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, who should be in the Class of 2014? There are lots of good candidates, especially wide receivers. There are a few names that come to mind, such as Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. However, there are some other names that come to mind: Jerry Kramer of the Green Bay Packers, Sam Mills of the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers, Tim Brown of the Oakland Raiders, and Sterling Sharpe of the Green Bay Packers. Unlike many of the pundits, I believe special teamers belong in the Hall, too. The first one who should go is Ray Guy of the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders.

What about head coaches? The next two who should be inducted in the NFL Hall of Fame are Bill Cowher of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tony Dungy of the Tampa  Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts.

The Drum Corps International World Championship is this week. At this point, it's a dogfight between the defending champion Blue Devils and Carolina Crown. If Carolina Crown pulls off the upset, they will be the first World Class corps from the South to win the DCI Championship and the first southern corps since 1981 to win a DCI championship on any level. In 1981, the Louisiana Southernaires won the DCI Class A Championship. Class A is now Open Class and Open Class from 1981 is now World Class.

I created an Facebook author page, Jon de Silva Author Page. If you enjoy these entries, please visit my page and give it a like. There are links to both of my ebooks. I also messed around and had an Amazon Cover Creator idea for my upcoming e-novelette, The Hunted.  There are also links to interesting articles, such as explaining phases of the moon using Oreo cookies, among others.


Have a great day!!!