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Most recently published stories in Unbalanced.
A Poignant, Yet Positive Message to All Yankees Fans
To all of my fellow New York Yankees fans...where do I start? Well, it was your typical Yankees season. The team got off to a great start, and I mean, a great start, but a lull in July and August served as a bit of a snag. Even so, the Yankees won the AL East, and before this, I had three simple words: "I want Houston!" I felt that the Yankees owed the Houston Astros some payback for five years prior, and I also felt that it was time for the Yankees to finally overcome the Astros in the postseason. When the Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians in a five-game ALDS, it set up this inevitable meeting for the pennant.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
NFL Week 7 Recap: Actual Scoring on Thursday Night?!
You know, one thing I've been mixed on is the opinions on Thursday Night Football games. Here's the thing: during the NFL season, I love Thursday, because it begins a new week of in-game action, and regarding Thursday games, the two special Thursday dates are Opening Day (which always features the defending Super Bowl Champions) and, of course, Thanksgiving (which features a Detroit Lions game, a Dallas Cowboys game, and a special primetime game). Those aren't the games that get the scrutiny.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Cinderella Eliminates Cinderella
The San Diego Padres desperately needed to make up for their immensely disappointing 2021 season, which saw them on the outside looking in despite having pretty big expectations. 2021 saw the Los Angeles Dodgers (the defending World Champions) favored to win the National League West, and those who didn't pick the Dodgers believed that the Padres would get it done. Instead, the San Francisco Giants ended up taking the West, the Dodgers got a Wild Card spot, and as for the Padres, well, they completely fizzled. Part of their problem was the season ending injury suffered by their star player, Fernando Tatis, Jr., and regarding this season, they ended up without Tatis again, but this time, it was a drug policy violation that resulted in an 80-game suspension--which will continue entering the 2023 season.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 20 Recap: The Playoff Puzzle is Complete
It seems like yesterday that the 2022 CFL season began, it really does. Despite the fact that Canada's version of the sport is three weeks longer than the American version, it's still a sprint to the finish line. The season enters its 20th and penultimate week, and despite this, everything can be wrapped up with one week left to spare. Five of the six spots in this year's Grey Cup Playoffs are clinched, but there was still the remaining spot left, as well as key positioning. The scenarios were as follows:
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
NFL Week 6 Recap: Clash of the Titans
As a football fan, I do enjoy weeks that contain what I love to call, "a double main event." By this, I mean not one, but two marquee games taking place in the the same week of NFL action. Obviously, one of the main event games is played on the Sunday Night Football slot, but another usually airs in the late afternoon slot, either sharing regional coverage with one other game, or actually airing nationally. In the case of the big battle between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, it was the latter.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
2022 League Championship Series Preview
October 18, 2022 will go down in history as the most unprecedented date in MLB history. For the first time ever, two postseason rounds overlapped, as less than an hour after Game Five of the American League Division Series ended, the League Championship Series kicked off. The League Championship Series (LCS) was introduced as a result of MLB splitting the American and National Leagues into two divisions, East and West, in 1969. Before then, the league standings determined the pennants, but with this format, the winners of the East and West Divisions in each league would face off in the LCS, which was introduced as a best-of-five series to determine who wins the pennant and advance to the World Series. The LCS served as MLB's very first playoff round, and it would be extended to a best-of-seven format in 1985. The LCS served as the opening round of the MLB postseason from 1969 until 1993.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Guardians Fall Short in Five-Game Thriller
This was one hell of a season for the Cleveland Guardians. 2022 was their first year under their new name, Guardians, but that was the only thing buzzing, as very few (if any) expected them to go anywhere. The Chicago White Sox were expected to repeat as champions of the American League Central, and those who didn't pick the White Sox had the Minnesota Twins taking the division, especially due to how Minnesota's offseason went for they. Yes, the Guardians nailed down Jose Ramirez, but there was nothing else that stood out. This team couldn't hit home runs, and they weren't too flashy compared to the East's New York Yankees and the West's Houston Astros.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Another Historic Season Wasted
In my story about the San Francisco Giants' NLDS loss last year, I mentioned that they joined a club that no team wants to be in. The Giants won 107 games in 2021, which is a franchise record, but all that season got them was an NLDS exit by their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the defeat, the Giants were part of a collection of sports franchises who achieved historic regular seasons, only to come short when it counted. In the NHL, of course, the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning had the misfortune of blowing a 62-win season by getting swept out of the first round. In the NBA, the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors won a record 73 wins, led 3-1 in the NBA Finals, but lost the final three games. The NFL has seen a number of 13-3, 14-2, and yes, even 15-1 teams fail to even reach the Super Bowl. As for MLB, we remember the 2001 Seattle Mariners for winning 116 games, tying a league record, only to fail to win the pennant.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 19 Recap: Down to the Wire
There is very little time left in the 2022 CFL season, but so much is changing in the playoff race. The season is coming off a thrilling Canadian Thanksgiving weekend that saw some things solved, while others still needed to come to pass. Two playoff spots remained after Week 18, and these were the scenarios entering Week 19:
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Eighteen Innings, Zero Runs
October 15, 2000. The Seattle Mariners defeated the New York Yankees in Game Five of that year's American League Championship Series to stave off elimination, but they would lose Game Six to the team who went on to win the World Series. October 18, 2001. The Mariners lost Game Two of that year's American League Championship Series to fall behind two games to none. Manager Lou Piniella vowed and guaranteed that they would be back in Seattle playing Game Six, but after winning Game Three in The Bronx, they would lose Games Four and Five. They would not return to Seattle in that series. In fact, postseason baseball wouldn't return to the city of Seattle until October 15, 2022--nearly 21 years after their last home postseason game, and 22 years to the day after the last the Mariners won a home postseason game.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Braves' Pitching Squashes Repeat Plans
You know how hard it's becoming to win back-to-back World Series? There have been two sets of back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions since the last time a team repeated as World Champions in MLB. Yet after the wild finish the Atlanta Braves had, it seemed like they had a pretty good chance to repeat the success they had in 2021. It was an amazing year; the Braves bounced back from a rough start to win the National League East, and then run the table in the postseason--capturing the World Series on November 2, 2021. The team did lose Freddie Freeman, the heart and soul of the team, to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the offseason, and they would pay for it with another rough start to 2022.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
Which Canadian Team Has the Best Chance to Win the Stanley Cup in 2023?
A brand new NHL season has arrived, and it's hit with the same question fans in Canada have asked for so long: is this finally the year? We all know about Canada's cup drought, which will reach an even three decades if none of the seven teams capture Lord Stanley's Cup this season. When the Montréal Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, it was not only the franchise's 24th Cup, it was also the last Cup won by a Canadian team. When the drought began, there were eight teams in Canada: the Vancouver Canucks, the Edmonton Oilers, the Calgary Flames, the Winnipeg Jets, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Ottawa Senators, the Quebec Nordiques, and the Montréal Canadiens.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
