Remains of the day
Here's what I like about John Harbaugh (left). I spent a few minutes with him after his WBAL show tonight at the Owings Mills facility and talked about last night's game. No talk about a moral victory. No excuses. Very honest about both the bad and the good things that happened at Heinz Field. Very committed to developing a complete team that learns from its mistakes and does not repeat them. I'm starting to think that Bisciotti guy knows something about hiring good personnel.
Congratulations to the Chicago White Sox, who overcame a nasty down-to-the-wire slump to win Monday's makeup game against the Tigers and grind out a tough 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins to win the AL Central title tonight. I feel bad for the Twins, who stay in contention in spite of so much, but the Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox are going to be far more entertaining in the postseason.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 485 points today, wiping out most of Monday's disastrous losses, so I've recalculated my finances and now believe I'll be able to retire at 92. I'm sure you were all real worried about that, considering that I go to ballgames for a living.
I listened to parts of the Al Davis press conference today (that's Mr. Happy on the right) and have only one thing to say about his verbal assault on fired coach Lane Kiffin: Al Davis questioning somebody else's integrity is like me questioning somebody else's eating habits.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to play the Super Bowl Halftime Show? If he plays Rosalita, I won't even care what happens in the second half.
Went to see Righteous Kill the other day. It wasn't even a righteous way to kill time.
Harbaugh/AP photo
Davis/Getty Images


Now that we've all registered our complaints about last night's performance by the Ravens, let's all sing Kumbaya and remember that we didn't start out thinking they were going to be a playoff team -- and now, happily, we're not so sure.
ESPN football analyst and former NFL quarterback Steve Young (left) didn't hesitate to tie last night's loss to some of the other frustrating defeats suffered by the Ravens on Monday Night Football. He put it on the offense for not putting up enough points to support another great defensive performance and cast doubt on whether the Ravens are balanced enough to compete with the top teams in the AFC.
Cuban rookie Alexei Ramirez delivered one of the best moments of the postseason tonight, and it's not even the postseason yet. His tie-breaking grand slam in the sixth inning propelled the White Sox into a division title playoff against the Minnesota Twins tomorrow in Chicago. It already gave him the major league record for grand slams by a rookie -- it was his fourth -- and gave him a share of the overall White Sox record for salamis in a season (Albert Belle).
I guess it just comes down to whether you like the blog or you don't, because if you like the blog, you're going to be reading it -- and hopefully joining in the fun -- for a long, long time now that I can fit my retirement savings into a small gym bag.
Orioles manager Dave Trembley deserves some time apart from baseball after what he's been through over the past six weeks, but he said yesterday that he'll be glued to the tube for the playoffs and World Series.
Brian Roberts was hit on the left shin by Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Litsch in the bottom of the sixth inning and limped off the field to a loud ovation. Clearly, the crowd recognized the possibility that fans were seeing the last appearance by Roberts in an Orioles uniform.
Boy, I love it when people do my work for me. Here's a season-closing, marathon post from Birdland Todd, who says he wants my opinion but really just wrote so he could get his votes on the record for all the postseason awards:
Comeback player of the year: Carlos Delgado (Hamiltons' story was great, but my definition of a comeback player is someone who's an established player, but either in decline or coming back from a serious injury. Carlos was awesome this year and showed that he is still a feared hitter with 38 HRs and 115 RBIs)
With apologies to Jack Handy and, for no apparent reason, Stuart Smalley (right), here are some incisive final thoughts about the Orioles as they prepare to play their final game of the 2008 season against the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards:
Orioles president Andy MacPhail held a pre-game news conference to go over some of the offseason issues facing the front office. He didn't get too specific, but he acknowledged his disappointment at the late-season collapse of the pitching staff and re-confirmed his desire to further augment the club's pitching depth.
The Terps figure to crack the Top 25 after today's 20-17 road victory over No. 20 Clemson. Package that with the upset over California at Byrd Stadium and you've probably got a No. 22 team in the upcoming USA Today poll.
I realize this is supposed to be a sports blog, but it's hard to ignore the news this morning that Paul Newman has died of cancer. I've been a lifelong fan of his work and also admire the fact that he started his popular "Newman's Own" food business to benefit various charities.
Newman was a huge sports guy who loved auto racing and made decent movie about it in 1969 called Winning. I could go on and on, but I'll just give you my two favorite Paul Newman films and then let you chime in with a thought or two if you want. Newman's anti-hero in the 1963 classic Hud is, for me, the definition of great acting, and his comic turn as Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made that my all-time Newman favorite.
Chris Waters ended up on the losing end of tonight's rain-shortened game against the Blue Jays, but he still may have come out a winner in the long run. He pitched six innings and gave up three runs on nine hits to finish the season a little higher on Dave Trembley's list than some of the other young pitchers.