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In the midst of hearing his team get ripped by soon-to-be retired Commissioner Bud Selig, Tampa Bay owner Stuart Sternberg went off this week about the unbalanced schedule and how its penalizes a small budget team like his. Al Woods Jersey . I suppose Sternberg has earned the right to speak out since his Rays, despite one of the lowest payrolls in the Majors at $58 million, are entering the final weekend of the regular season holding down the first Wild Card spot in the American League, one game ahead of Cleveland and two up on Texas. Sternbergs point is that its unfair for his team to have to play 19 games apiece against the likes of the Red Sox, Orioles and Yankees in the toughest division in baseball every year. Sternberg maintains the easier schedules of teams like Texas and Cleveland give those teams two, three or four extra games "in the bag on us" over the course of a season. The Blue Jays could easily say the same thing. I was curious to see how they have actually done against the East over the last 10 years. I got a bit of a surprise in that, over the decade, the Jays have had four winning seasons against their own division, five losing seasons and one where they broke even. The problem is, in all but one winning season, they were barely over .500. In the five losing seasons, they were blown out of the water. Here are the telling numbers. In the last 10 years, the Blue Jays are 23 games over .500 against the American League Central, three games over the break even point against the West and 12 games under in inter-league play. Total that up and the Jays are 14 games over .500. The troublesome number is in the East. Heading into this weekends three-game set against Tampa Bay at Rogers Centre, the Jays are 52 games under .500 against their own division. The only winning season theyve had against the East in the last five years was 2010 when they wound up 39-33 against the East and finished with a record of 85-77. They still finished 11 games back of the divison-winning Rays and 10 games back of the Yankees for the Wild Card spot. The Jays only truly dominant season against the East was 2006 when they went 43-31 and finished with 87 victories and 75 losses. Even at that, they finished eight games back of the Yankees and Tigers, who finished with 95 wins. The Yankees won the East while the Tigers took the Wild Card. Fixing the schedule and making it balanced wouldnt necessarily turn things around for the Jays. Major League talent, scouting and a productive farm system figure into the mix as well. Blue Jays president Paul Beeston has said on numerous occasions the organization doesnt want to give up the extra home games against the Yankees and Red Sox because they are such huge draws. At some point, though, youd think the Blue Jays would want to even the playing field a bit. Along those lines, if the Blue Jays sweep the Rays this weekend, they will finish with 75 victories, just two more than last year. Yet over the last 10 years, in each and every season, the division winner has won at least 95 games with the Yankees breaking 100 twice. Even looking at the Wild Card clubs, under the old system where there was just one in each league, Tampa Bay got into the post-season with the fewest number of victories at 91 in 2011. Last year, Baltimore and Texas were the Wild Card teams with 93 wins apiece. Thats how far the Blue Jays have to go. A balanced schedule certainly couldnt hurt, especially when you see the Indians going 17-2 against the White Sox, and Texas putting up the same numbers against Houston. Extra Bases Its such a fine line between winning and losing. A year ago, Baltimore made the post-season in part because they went 29-9 in one-run games. This season, the 0s have 31 one-run losses. Part of that is the fact that Orioles closer Jim Johnson, who was nearly flawless last season, has blown nine saves this time around. When the Red Sox celebrated the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, which opened in 1912, they were able to bring back a breath-taking array of former stars and even World Series heroes. Next season is the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field in Chicago. Though there are quite a few Cubs legends still with us, I would be shocked if there were any still alive who played the last time they made it to the World Series in 1945. And sadly, there is no one left from the last time they actually won the Fall Classic in 1908, when they didnt even play at Wrigley. Tyquan Lewis Jersey . In a matchup of teams battling head-to-head for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccers Western Conference, the Whitecaps run to the post-season took a hard hit when FC Dallas blew open a tie game with two goals in the final minutes for a 3-1 victory Saturday night. Andrew Luck Jersey . FIFA said in a statement Friday that "several racist and discriminatory incidents were apparently perpetrated by local supporters during the match, in particular by displaying neo-Nazi banners and by making monkey noises and gestures as well as Nazi salutes. http://www.coltsfansshop.com/Colts-Nate-Hairston-D...ft-Jers ey/ .ca. Hi Kerry, Love reading your column and loved watching your analysis on the TSN broadcasts!And were now in Round 2! Bruins! Canadiens! We know all about the great games of the past from the players, the broadcasters and the writers.Matthias Mayer of Austria won the Olympic downhill in Sochi on Sunday. Mayer finished the Rosa Khutor course in 2 minutes, 6.23 seconds. Christof Innerhofer of Italy won silver and Kjetil Jansrud of Norway won bronze. Canadas Erik Guay finished 10th. Teammates Ben Thompson, Jan Hudec and Manuel Osborne-Paradis finished 19th, 21st and 25th respectively. Pre-race favorite Aksel Lund Svindal fourth and American Bode Miller finished eighth. Mayer was one of the first contenders to come down, with the No. 11 bib, and he hardly celebrated when he reached the finish. But his smile grew wider as all the favorites failed to catch him. Miller was one of the fastest skiers on the top section but lost speed when he hit a gate on a right turn a bit further down. "He pinched it off and went into the gate," Italian skier Dominik Paris said. "It was a critical section there." After crossing the finish, Miller sat down on his skis with a look of bewilderment on his face. That was understandable, considering that the American had dominated two of the three official training sessions. Svindal was also fast on top but lost speed when his large frame went soaring into the air over the big jumps lining the rest of the course. Mayer is short and compact and appeared more aerodynamic over the jumps. Mayeris one of the more surprising gold medalists in the sports marquee race, as he has never before finished better than fifth in a World Cup downhill. But Mayer led the seconnd downhill training session and was third in the opening session. Braden Smith Jersey . His father, Helmut, won a silver medal in the super-G at the 1988 Calgary Games. Mayer was not even supposed to be Austrias top contender but he was thrust into that position when Hannes Reichelt was sidelined with back surgery after winning the prestigious Kitzbuehel downhill on home snow two weeks ago. Ski-loving Austria has won more mens downhills at the Olympics than any other nation, six of 17, but the last came in 2002 from Fritz Strobl, who happens to be from the same region in southern Austria as Mayer. So is Franz Klammer, who won the 1976 Innsbruck Games downhill. Mayer has had more success in super-G, including a silver medal at the 2008 junior world championships and two second-place World Cup showings. Those super-G skills suited him well for the Olympic downhill course, which was extremely technical. At 3.5 kilometers (2.17 miles), the Rosa Khutor piste was also one of the most physically demanding tests skiers faced all season. With three big jumps, one of which sent skiers soaring into the air for 70 meters (yards), it provided for a spectacular race. However, the stands were only half full at the start due to an apparent traffic problem. They only filled up as the race wore on. Skies were cloudy and the temperature was slightly above freezing. The next event on the Alpine schedule is the womens super-combined Monday, followed by the womens downhill Wednesday. 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4633 Beiträge & 4391 Themen in 4 Foren
