Vikings and NFL 2015: Midseason Points

Build up to the 2010 game between Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Your Minnesota Vikings (as Paul Allen of KFAN 100.3 would say) are tied for the NFC North lead with the Green Bay Packers at 6-2, as of 11/13/15.  Though few think the Vikings will actually win the division, it is an improvement over the last couple of years.  Had it not been for their inexplicable loss to the San Francisco 49ers on the Monday night opener, the Vikings would be in first place.

Though the return of Adrian Peterson has sparked the offense, he hasn't been getting the yards he used to.  Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had been getting mauled on the field because of injuries to an already-depleted offensive line.  It finally caught up to him when he had to leave the St. Louis game last Sunday with what looked to be a concussion, delivered by a Rams player with a questionable hit.  This was one of the few times we've seen some passion out of Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who in defending his quarterback took some not-so-subtle shots at the Rams coaching staff.

For the rest of the season, it's all uphill for the Vikings if they want to make the playoffs.  They play the Packers (twice), Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals.  If they can survive all this, a Wild Card berth (at least) is theirs.
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Those ads for daily fantasy sports sites FanDuel and Draft Kings have become as ubiquitous on TV (and just as obnoxious) as for those selling beer and cars.  They make it sound like all you have to do is put the right players on your team for one week of games, watch the numbers, then expect a big fat check.  With all that ubiquity comes scrutiny.  FanDuel and Draft Kings, among others, are being investigated by the government on charges that daily fantasy is really gambling, and that some employees of one site are allegedly using the other's site to enrich themselves and to shut out other players.  Some states have either banned or restricted the use of daily fantasy sites.

What complicates matters is that FanDuel and Draft Kings are being funded by pro sports leagues and some TV networks.  If the daily fantasy sites end up being shut down, those entities may be in big trouble with the government unless they divest and soon.  Serving prison time and/or ending up bankrupt might become a reality to those involved.  And the rest of us can just find some other way to have fun with statistics.
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The NFL is scheduling more games in the near future for London.  Either the British love the American version of football, or the league is using the games to create a new Sunday morning TV franchise back in the States instead of actually putting a team in Europe.  (Hey, it beats "Meet The Press".)  What's next?  Late night football from Tokyo, Sydney or Honolulu?

KC Royals Rule Baseball

Dominican Summer Royals (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After losing last year's World Series to the San Francisco Giants in seven games, the Kansas City Royals made sure the same thing didn't happen this year.  They beat the New York Mets in five games, winning their first world championship since 1985 and the second in franchise history.

The Royals won Game 5 in 12 innings, 7-2, at Citi Field in New York Sunday-into-early-Monday in the same manner they've been doing it during the postseason.  That is, come back from a deficit in the late innings and let its bullpen finish the job.  Eric Hosmer scored ten runs in the postseason, including the tying run in Game 5, as the Royals marched through the Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays during the American League playoffs.

It also helped that the Mets, who defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs in the National League playoffs to get here, contributed to Kansas City's victory with bad fielding, untimely lack of offense, blown saves and leaving certain starting pitchers in too long.

Case in point:  Mets pitcher Matt Harvey was seen on TV heavily persuading (demanding might not be the best word) his manager Terry Collins to let him pitch the ninth inning in Game 5 with a 3-2 lead.  Fox's broadcast crew made note of the fact that Jack Morris of the Minnesota Twins (who happened to attend the game) did the same thing with manager Tom Kelly during the 1991 World Series against the Atlanta Braves.  The difference?  Morris was pitching a scoreless Game 7 that went into the tenth inning before the Twins won the Series.  Harvey was pitching in a game where the Mets were on the brink of elimination, and Collins wanted to take him out to maybe preserve him for a possible Game 7 in Kansas City.  Collins relented and let Harvey pitch the ninth.  A couple of men on base later, Harvey was pulled.  Not everyone gets to be Jack Morris.

Much was made about the movie "Back To The Future" and its prediction that the Cubs would win the World Series in 2015.  Well, that didn't happen, did it?  Instead, the same team that won it all in '85 when the movie was first released won again on its 30th anniversary.  That team was the Kansas City Royals.  Some things never change.

•  Obscure trivia:  The Royals and Mets were both created as expansion franchises in the 1960s, replacing teams that had moved to California (Giants, Dodgers, Athletics).  This was the first time two of those franchises had met in the World Series.
• Because of a power outage in the Fox broadcast booth during Game 1 in Kansas City,  announcers Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci commandeered the MLB Network's international coverage, elbowing aside their commentators for a couple of innings before the power was restored.  It also caused a delay in the game, with the use of instant replay suspended.  Fox has been televising the World Series for two decades now, and Buck has been its main voice.  We think he's done a fine job, but we also know there's plenty of Buck-haters out there.  This incident was sheer arrogance on Fox's part, and a reminder of who really calls the tune during sports telecasts.