4-0 Bayonne football team, and Yankees playoff collapse on Open Mike

On Open Mike, I welcomed in Bayonne Head football Coach Rick Rodriguez to the program to talk about the turnaround of his Bayonne Bees who are 4-0 on the season, as they prepare for a match against North Bergen tonight.

Rodriguez left the team six years ago, only to return this year. He's the only coach to win a state title for the school's football team, doing it in 2002. He's happy to be home.

I also invite John Silva, host of Hudson Hockey and graduate of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting to the show, and we talk about the Yankees collapse against the Tigers and the Jets vs. Patriots show down.

LISTEN!

Yankees choke in clutch, lose series to Tigers

TIGERS 3
YANKEES 2

Yankees Lose! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Yankees Lose!

Yes, Yankee fans, the season is now over, after the Bronx Bombers chocked up on their baseball bats in a 3-2 defeat to the Detroit Tigers, as Detroit moves on the American League Championship Series, and the Yankees head home for the holidays.

The Yankees completely choked in this, a crucial game five with a trip to the ALCS on the line, as they left the bases loaded twice, and even the Mr. Postseason Derek Jeter came up snake eyes in the eighth inning.

Many people felt that this game was so much in favor of the Yankees that it was only a matter of time before they play the Texas Rangers in the ALCS. That's why they play the games.

The Tigers jumped all over Ivan Nova in the first inning shocking the Yankee crowd with back-to-back homers by Don Kelly and Delmon Young. Young had an incredible series with three homers.

After that it was a battle between the Tigers pitchers and the Yankees offense. Doug Fister was money; five solid innings, giving up only a Robinson Cano solo homerun, and four strikeouts. He had the Yankee hitter baffled all night as they chased his fastball and slider in and out of the strike zone.

In the fourth inning, the Bombers had a great shot to get back into the game. With the bases loaded and one out, Russell Martin popped up to to shallow right for the second out, and for some reason, Brett Gardner put the ball into the air, only to fly out to kill the Yankee threat.

Joe Girardi did everything he could to keep the Yankees in this game. He removed Nova after two innings for Phil Hughes, then removed him for Boone Logan, before bringing in CC Sabathia for two innings. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez, who supposedly exercised his post-season daemons in 2009, saw the goblins return as he completely blew it in this series. In the seventh inning after three straight hits by Jeter, Curtis Granderson and Cano, Rodriguez promptly struck out swinging for the second out. Rodriguez really struggled in this series hitting .111. Mark Teixeria who also stunk it up in this series hitting .167, walked to drive in Jeter, before Nick Swisher was caught looking for strike three.

Finally in the eighth with Gardner on base, Derek Jeter cracked a pitch to the warning track in right. It was a typical Jeter blast, one that usually cleared the fences, but this time the ball ended up in the glove of Magglio Ordonez to end the inning and kill any hopes that Mr. Postseason would win the game for the Bronx Bombers.

In the ninth, Jose Velverde took care of business, getting Granderson and Cano to pop out, before striking out Rodriguez to end the Yankees season. Look for the A-Rod sucks phone calls to heat up talk radio in the coming days.

The Yankees will push the panic button this off-season, and will likely shop for one or two big time pitchers and throw ridiculous money around. They may even make a play for Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder, for no reason in particular, other than to throw away more money. That's what the Yankees do best you know --- buy a World Series; certainly worked in 2011 didn't it?

Yankees stay alive thanks to A.J. Burnett gem

YANKEES 10
TIGERS 1

Just when you thought the Yankees were done, they pull you right back in.

The Yankees staved off elimination from the 2011 postseason last night, thanks in large part to a solid performance from the unlikeliest of sources: A.J. Burnett.

Coming into the game, many feared that Burnett would find a way to royally screw up the Yankees chances with a typical A.J. meltdown, but instead, the erratic right hander delivered the performance of his Yankee career.

In late August, Burnett was in a similar spot, he needed to win a game against the Red Sox to help right a struggling Yankee's team. Nobody believed he could do it, and, like last night, he surprised with six solid innings when New York won that ball game and rolled to a division title.

Perhaps Tuesday night was the beginning of another Yankee run; it sure felt like it. In the bottom of the first, Burnett got into some serious trouble, walking the bases loaded with two out. It appeared that the doomed inning everyone feared was about to happen. Burnett tried to cruise a fastball to Don Kelly, but the lanky left handed batter cracked it to deep center field.

The ball's trajectory was speeding for the sweet spot underneath the padding of the center field wall, until former Tiger Curtis Granderson lept into the air, caught the ball, and fell to the ground, to saving Burnett's skin.

With Burnett bailed out, the Yankee offense pounded Tigers righty and New Jersey product, Rick Porcello. In the third inning with two men on, Mister Postseason, Derek Jeter cracked a two run double to left center to give the Yankees a stunning 2-0 lead.

The quick strike by Jeter quieted down the Tiger faithful and set the tone for the night.

In the fifth, the Yankee bats tacked on Granderson's double to right, scoringd Brett Gardner to make it 3-1; then, Alex Rodriguez, who has struggled in this series, skied to center field, Jeter tagged from third and scored to give New York a 4-1 lead.

The Yankees later added six runs in the eighth inning thanks in part to shoddy pitching by the Tigers. A balk on Al Alburquerque allowed A-Rod to score from third with the bases loaded, and a wild pitch by Dan Schlereth allowed Jesus Montero to score later in the inning.

Burnett settled down nicely after that first inning. He pitched five and two-thirds innings, scattering four hits and walking four, while striking out three. His fastball was nasty at times, causing many Tiger hitters to swing and miss. It was the start the Yankees desperately needed from him.

With the series tied at two apiece, the Yankees will host the Tigers Thursday night at 8 pm on TBS. Ivan Nova, who was extraordinary in relief in Game One will make the start against Doug Fister. In a post season where the Yankees feared what they would receive from their starting rotation after CC Sabathia, they cannot complain. Nova, Burnett and Freddy Garcia have pitched well in this series, big reasons why New York is still in it.

Giant & Cruz luck out in victory over Cardinals

GIANTS 31
CARDINALS 27

It seems that whenever the Giants travel to University of Phoenix Stadium they get a ridiculously crazy play that helps them win a game. A few years ago it was the helmet catch in the Super Bowl against the Patriots.

On Sunday the Giants had another zany play in this building when Victor Cruz caught a pass on a slant from Eli Manning, and, while advancing up field, he decided to drop to the ground in front of the Cardinals defenders. Arizona didn't tackle Cruz, and the wide out decided to let go of the football; the Cardinals insisted he had fumbled the ball, and the call should be challenged and given to Arizona; however, the NFL rulebook says that if a receiver gives himself up and falls to the ground, then he is by rule down on the play. Therefore no fumble, and the Giants had life.

This came at a crucial moment in the game with the Giants down 27-24. On the next play Manning hit Hakeem Nicks from 29 yards out for the go-ahead touchdown.

The Cruz play has drawn quite an uproar around the NFL, but it was pretty clear that Cruz gave himself up and fell to the ground; he did it by the book.

That being said, the play has taken away from an incredible Giants comeback. New York was down 20-10 heading into the fourth quarter and appeared like dead team walking, until Manning ignited a 21 point fourth quarter.

Brandon Jacobs 1 yard score cut the deficit to 20-17, but Arizona answered with a Beanie Wells touchdown to extend the lead back to ten. Manning then hit Jake Ballard from two yards out to cut the Cardinals lead to 27-24. Then the craziness happened.

Manning threw for 321 yards and two scores. He was unbelievable in the second half, and Big Blue won its second consecutive road game against a formidable opponent to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Sanchez & Jets crash and burn in Baltimore

As seen in Bleacher Report.com.

RAVENS 34
JETS 17

Well, the good news for the New York Jets this morning is that they are not the Philadelphia Eagles.

That's where all the superlatives end when it comes to Gang Green right now because Rex Ryan's brash bullies of Super Bowl talk have been shot down and shut up so far this season after four games full of inconsistent play from the defense, as well as purely abysmal play from the entire offensive unit.

A quarter of the way through the season the Jets stand at 2-2, and if it were not for Joe McKnight's blocked punt in Week One against Dallas, one could make the argument that the Jets would be 1-3 right now. They have lost the first two games of their critical three-game road trip—both in excruciating fashion—and look progressively worse with each snap.

The Jets have been exposed.

No way is this a Super Bowl team. Heck, this might not even be a playoff team, let alone a .500 team, right now.

Their offensive line depth is atrocious. Without Nick Mangold, there is no glue to keep that unit together, the lack was on display against the Ravens as Mark Sanchez couldn't get on the same page with center Chris Baxter. Even though Mangold will likely return next Sunday against New England, there are still visible problems with this offensive line. Vladimir Duccase is a joke, and Wayne Hunter has been horrible at right tackle.

Keep in mind this is a Jets team that was convinced Damien Woody was finished and that Hunter could step in and replace him. The Jets not only miss Woody on the offensive line, they miss his veteran presence in the locker room.

Woody was a three-time Super Bowl Champion with the New England Patriots, a guy who was well respected in that Jets locker room, a true leader; he's no longer there.

The running game has been the Jets' biggest problem all season. A team that dedicates itself to the notion of "ground and pound" has seen the Jets get grounded and pounded. Will we ever see the real Shonn Greene? Better yet, is this the real Shonn Greene?

Greene didn't step up his game at all last season, paving the way to LaDainian Tomlinson becoming the team's leading rusher. Greene had a decent second half and postseason last year, but he didn't replicate the burst of speed he had in the 2009 playoffs.

As for Greene, he has been a complete bust this season. He has only 157 yards rushing this year with one touchdown. He has even watched his yards-per-carry average drop over the last two seasons from 5.3 in 2009 to 4.1 in 2010 and now 3.1 in 2011. The Jets know they have to get him the football more often, but when he touches it, it's like like watching a man run through cement. The burst and power is not there right now.

I offer Greene the excuse that the offensive line is not doing a good job up front. Plenty of blocking assignments have been missed, and, with a lot of inexperience on the right side of the line, opposing teams are getting great pressure up front. That said, Greene was supposed to be "the guy," but, up to now, he has not delivered. If his struggles continue the rest of the season, you can rest assured that the Jets will use their first draft pick in 2012 on a running back.

Then there are the two biggest culprits of this offense: Mark Sanchez and Brian Schottenheimer. TO READ THE REST CLICK THE LINK!

Tigers rebound behind Scherzer's dominance

TIGERS 5
YANKEES 3

Now the Yankees are faced with a scenario they didn't want to face when Friday's Game One was suspended and moved to Saturday because of rain.

The Yankees will head to Detroit for two games. The first game they will have to face Detroit's ace, Justin Verlander in crucial Game Three; then the Bronx Bombers will be stuck with starting inconsistent starter, A.J. Burnett in Game Four.

The Yankees had no answer for Max Scherzer, who dominated the Yankees for the third time this season. Scherzer held the Yankees to two hits in six innings, while striking out five in six sharp innings.

Detroit got an early jump on this one thanks to a two run blast by Miguel Cabrera in the first inning to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

Freddy Garcia, who got the start, had an uneven performance. Even though he didn't walk anyone, he did give up four runs in five and a third innings, proving why he was such a gamble to pitch in this game to begin with.

The Tigers put this game out of reach in the sixth when Cabrera singled up the middle to drive in Austin Jackson to make it 3-0 before Victor Martinez also singled to bring in Don Kelly.

The game got a little dramatic in the ninth as Jose Velverde nearly blew it for the Tigers. He gave up a solo shot to Nick Swisher to cut the Detroit lead to 5-2. Then, he gave a triple to Jorge Posada, and a sac fly by Andruw Jones, driving in Posada, to make it 5-3. With two on and two out, Velverde was able to force Robinson Cano into a grond out to end the day just as the rains started to pour at the Stadium.

Yankees strike first in ALDS after 24 hour rain delay

YANKEES 9
TIGERS 3

Friday night's rain out did not deter the Yankees from victory. Sure the rain screwed up the Yankee's rotation, forcing CC Sabathia to pitch once in this series in Game Three; the Bronx Bombers were in good hands for the resumption of Game One when Ivan Nova took the hill.

Nova who won 16 games this season, matched up against his originally scheduled Game Two counterpart, Doug Fister, a young flame thrower with the Tigers who combined with Justin Verlander to go 14-0 with a 1.66 ERA since August 16.

With Verlander out of Game One because of the rain, it was up to Fister to hold the 1-1 tie, but he just couldn't handle the bright lights of the Bronx. Nova handled it like a veteran.

The two young starters held that 1-1 tie through four innings, making it clear that they could hold their own even with aces like Sabathia and Verlander out of the game. But, then in the bottom of the fifth, the Yankees finally got to Fister.

With two out, Curtis Granderson singled up the middle to get things moving for the Yankees. Next, Robinson Cano doubled to center, driving home a charging Granderson who scored from all the way from first, to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

In the sixth, after a Mark Tiexiera double and Jorge Posada walk, Brett Gardner slapped a single to the right center gap to drive in both Tiexiera and Posada to give the Bombers a 4-1 lead. The, Derek Jeter singled and Granderson walked; it was that Cano guy again. Cano blasted a grand slam homer into the second deck in right field, giving New York an 8-1 lead. It was the Yankees 11th grand slam of the season.

Cano would tally six RBI on the night with two doubles and the homer.

As for Nova, he was excellent. Heading into the ninth inning, he only gave up two hits and recorded five strikeouts. He grew tired in the ninth and was relieved by Luis Ayala, who couldn't shut the door on the Tigers, giving up two runs. Mariano Rivera came in with two out in the ninth and shut the door on Detroit, striking out former Yankee Wilson Betemet on three pitches.

On Sunday, the Yankees will trust Freddy Garcia, a guy who won 12 games but does not have great command, but a guy who doesn't fool hitters with any of his pitches. He will square off against Matt Scherzer who went 2-0 against the Yankees during the regular season.

Game Two will be huge with both Sabathia and Verlander rescheduled to pitch Game Three, and A.J. Burnett and Rick Porcello scheduled to pitch Game Four; the winner of Sunday's match-up will have a huge edge the rest of the series. Obviously, if New York wins and takes a 2-0 lead to Detroit, they will have their ace on the mound to end it. And even if the Yankees lose two games in Detroit, they would return home 2-2 with Nova and Fister scheduled for a game five.

If Detroit should win on Sunday, the Yankees face the prospect of possibly not returning home for a Game Five. Verlander, in addition to having a Cy Young season, was great at home. Also, the idea of Burnett pitching a Game Four with the Yankees possibly down two-games-to-one is something Joe Girardi doesn't want to think about.

Good win by the Yankees in Game One, but Game Two is mega important.