Boomer's Urban Renewal: Road Warriors in Week 5

You're bound to run into a few unique characters, on the road.

Saturday's in the fall, there's nothing quite like 'em. This week 12 ranked teams take to the road, with the ultimate goal to become road warriors. Last night, unranked Washington (Dub-U) in front of a wild "blacked out" crowd defeated #8 Stanford 17-13. That makes one ranked team already, fail to become road warriors. Ranked teams with road trips this week include: #2 Oregon, #4 Florida State, #6 South Carolina, #12 Texas, #15 TCU, #17 Clemson, #18 Oregon State, #19 Louisville, and #24 Boise State. All those teams face unranked home dogs. Who's on Upset Alert? It will be interesting at the end of Saturday night, to see how many of those teams survived their road test. Two Top 25 match ups this week as well, when #14 Ohio State travels to #20 Michigan State & #25 Baylor goes on the road to play #9 West Virginia. It looks like another fun weekend in college football, so make sure you get up early have some breakfast (I prefer pancakes, for my pregame meal), and catch College Game Day Live from East Lansing, MI.

Boomer Report: Reds chase 100, Acta fired & Browns on TNF

For the second time in three seasons, the Reds win NL Central.

Indians fire Manager Acta, with six games remaining.

Boomer's Diamond/Gridiron Notes: Final Week in MLB; Nuts & Bolts in the NFL

These guys have their clubs on the verge of the AL playoffs.

A week from tomorrow, will be the final day of the 2012 MLB regular season. The postseason picture is a little clearer in the National League at this point, so lets talk about that first. The Nationals, Reds, and Giants respective won their divisions and/or clinched a playoff berth this past week. With a win tonight, the Braves could be the 4th NL team to punch their ticket to additional game(s) in October. Leaving just one spot left, the second Wild Card spot. This is the first season that an extra WC spot was added in each division, making the past month very interesting to say the least. The St. Louis Cardinals held the spot at this moment but are being chased in the final week by division rivals the Milwaukee Brewers, along with the LA Dodgers. Barring a major meltdown by the Cardinals, look for them to hang on to the second WC spot. The Nationals lead the Reds by 1 game and the Giants by 4 games for the best record in the National League (like that matters this season anyways, see NLDS). In the American League, there is a lot to be determined still with a week to go. No one was clinched a division title, and in the AL Central it seems like nobody wants to win it at all. The Yankees & Orioles are battling it out for the AL East crown. The Consolation prize? The 1st WC spot. In the AL Central the White Sox & Tigers, one of 'em gotta win the division, right? The Rangers should clinch the AL West by the weekend, with the A's looking like a solid choice for the #2 WC spot. Chasing the A's, would be AL West division rival the LA Angels and Tampa Bay Rays. In other news, my Fantasy Baseball team again flamed out of playoffs in the semi-finals, and now fights for a respectable 3rd place finish in the remaining week or so.

To the Gridiron, if you been living under a rock for the past 24 hours heres what you missed. A blown call, by the infamous NFL replacement referees costed the Packers the game. After watching it and following the aftermath of the situation, I instantly started chanting the famous high school chant, "Nuts & Bolts...Nuts & Bolts...THE PACKERS GOT SCREWED! Enough is enough, the replacements need replaced, ASAP. As for my Fantasy Football team, dropped to 1-2 on the season after I watched my bench players almost outscore my starters. #smh MLB Hunt for October NFL Power Rankings

The final straw, it's time to go back to refereeing Junior High games.

Boomer's Game Recap: Browns fall to Bills, start 0-3 again

T. Rich had 51 total yards & a rushing TD vs. the Bills.

Recap: Fitzpatrick (3 TD's), Bills beat Browns to snap road skid

Box Score: Bills 24, Browns 14 Final

Ugh! Another 0-3 start to the season. You look forward to the Browns season all spring/summer, then its over before it even gets started. I know they are young and won't expected to do much, but it's getting old losing. Yesterday's game another classic example, going down 14 to 0, and having to battle back all day long. Would it be to much to ask, to come out that 1st quarter and take a lead, instead of falling behind early and constantly having to play from behind. I would love to sit in on a Coach Shurmur pre-game speech, I bet it really gets the juices flowing (#fireshurmur). The best way to end a bad streak, case in point, the Bills had not won a road game since Week 1 LAST season, is to play the Browns. That skid came to an end in the Bills 24 to 14 win vs. Browns yesterday in Cleveland. Thanks to Time-Warner finally agreeing to carry the NFL Network, I'm forced to watch the Browns on TNF this week, when they travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens. If you looked up the word loser in Webster's Dictionary, I'm pretty sure this picture would be beside it.

Boomer's Game Recap: Buckeyes sleepwalk past UAB

Braxton Miller rushed for another two scores vs. UAB.

Recap: Miller, Buckeyes overcome slow start, beat UAB

Box Score: Ohio State 29, UAB 15 Final

An imperfect team, with a perfect record. It's starting to sound like a broken record. Saturday's game wasn't what anyone thought it would be. The Buckeyes (4-0), again played another sub-par game vs. a lower-opponent UAB (0-3) and still have several question marks, heading into their Big Ten Conference opener vs. Michigan State (3-1). The line was set at 37 points! Gosh, the Buckeyes didn't even reach 37 points, let alone come anywhere close to winning by 37 points. At one point, the Buckeyes saw themselves down 9 to 0, before they finally showed some sign of life in the final 7 minutes in the 2nd quarter. For it to be a 21 to 15 score with 5 minutes to go, is just unacceptable. The Buckeyes were again, lucky that the Blazers won't able to make a couple plays/catches here or there or things could of really went wrong in this one. Again, its a win, but this non-conference slate of games where tougher then I (the rest of Buckeye Nation) expected. Better tighten your chain-strap, cause things get a whole lot tougher, in the next couple of weeks with games @ Michigan State & vs. Nebraska (October 6th). An imperfect team, with a perfect record. Hey, I'll say that for eight more games if I have to, haha.

Boomer's Urban Renewal: Conference Showdowns Highlight Week 4

There is nothing better, then Conference Games.

Boise State's 7-6 victory over BYU, on this week's College Thursday Night Football game, literally put me to sleep. The Broncos on the "blue turf" got a defensive touchdown and held the Cougars on a 2-point conversion late to preserve the W. Three games into the season, the post-Kellen Moore era in Boise has been everything but offensive. With a new signal-caller, the Broncos have went without a offensive TD in two of their three games. Replacing the all-time winningest QB in college football, is proving to be a difficult task. Sitting at 2-1, are the Broncos in for a multiple-loss season for the 1st time since 2007 (10-3 that season). You can catch the flavor of the past week, UL-Monroe tonight, when they host Baylor (ESPN 8PM). After splitting back-to-back OT game's with SEC teams Arkansas (Win) & Auburn (Lose), what's in story for the Warhawks this week. With some teams wrapping up non-conference schedules this week (Big Ten), others are diving (or have been) into some early season conference match ups . Yes! Another, full-weekend of college football, make sure you have fresh batteries in the remote & the schedule of games with you. Turn this classic jam up to Volume 11 in the morning while you serve yourself some Saturday morning pancakes & eggs, while you watch College Game Day Live from Tallahassee, FL.

Boomer Report: Baker's Health, Indians Walk-Off & Great Lake's Rivalry

This week Baker was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.

Well, as of lately when the Tribe win, they make it dramatic.

Boomer's Diamond/Gridiron Notes: Make or Break Time in MLB; Replacement Referees struggling

Maybe things won't greener (at least on the diamond) for these two guys.

After signing huge multi-year contracts with new teams over the off-season, Prince Fielder (Tigers) & Albert Pujols (Angels) chances of making the postseason are becoming very slim. With yesterday's loss to the White Sox (leaders of the AL Central), the Tigers found themselves behind in the AL Central standings by 3 games with just 16 games left for each team to play on their schedules. The Tigers, every ones lock to win the AL Central and possibly get to the World Series for the 1st time since 2006 after signing Fielder, just never seemed to piece together the pieces after a slow-start to the season. In Pujols situation, it was very similar as everyone was crowning the Angels the best team in baseball, after they went out and landed Pujols along with SP C.J. Wilson. However, like the Tigers, the Angels struggled early (especially Pujols) and have had to play from behind all season. As of now, the Angels best bet of making the postseason, would be to grab the second Wild Card spot, which they trail the Orioles by 3 games, with each team having 15 games left of their schedules. After a huge off-season for the two franchises, the Tigers & Angels (barring a couple miracles) look to be headed for an earlier vacation, then they & their fans had planned back during the off-season. I guess, that's why all 162- games are played on the diamond and not on paper. Mo Money Mo Problems As for this week in the NFL, the Falcons picked off Peyton Manning three times in last nights MNF game, and improved their record to 2-0, with a 27 to 21 victory. Week 2 in the NFL included, the continuing struggles of the  replacement referees, the Cowboys & Jets coming back down to earth, and the improved play by the five starting rookie QB's. In my opinion, I think it's ridiculous that after what the NFL put the fans though a year ago, with the players strike, that they allowed this to happen. The sad thing about it is, from what you hear about the situation, their doesn't seem to be much going on to improve the situation. So, I guess for now, we as fans and the NFL players around the league have to deal with the lousy calls made by these replacement referees. C'Mon Man! Hunt for October All be it two games in, the Updated NFL Standings

It's getting ugly, as Coaches & Players start to bully the replacements.

Boomer's Game Recap: Special Teams dooms Browns in lose to Bengals

T. Rich's 1st NFL career TD,  example the somersault. 

Recap: Weeden outdueled by Dalton, Browns fall 34 to 27

Box Score: Bengals 34, Browns 27 Final

One costly mistake on special teams, and the Browns find themselves starting out the season at 0-2. The Browns failed to cover the 1st punt of the game, and saw Adam "Pac-Man, Theres no way I deserve to still be playing in the NFL" Jones race 81-yards for the punt return touchdown, giving the Bengals an early 7-0 lead. The Browns, gave up too many big plays on the day, and like always seemed to be fighting an up hill battle all afternoon. Falling behind 14 to 3, the Browns cut the halftime score to 17 to 10. In the 2nd half, as the Bengals kept scoring, I kept thinking "Wheres that so-called outstanding defense from a week ago"? It's another frustrating defeat, and theres no such thing as a morale victory (although the Browns have collected a lot of those over the years) in the NFL. I hate just "being in the game(s)", because frankly the Browns had chances to win the 1st two games of this season and failed to do so. This current roster is young, and I've said it now for the past two weeks, as a whole this Browns team doesn't know how to win ballgames. Till they find a way to, it's looking like another long fall season up in Cleveland for my beloved Brownies. #fireshurmur

Boomer's Game Recap: Buckeyes survive scare from Cal

#15 Devin Smith (above) snatches his 1st of two TD's vs. Cal.

Recap: Ohio State holds off California

Box Score: Ohio State 35, California 28 Final

Al Davis couldn't have said it better "Just Win, Baby!". That is exactly what the Buckeyes did on Saturday afternoon at the Horseshoe vs. a gamed-Cal Golden Bears team. It wasn't pretty, and for most of the 2nd half (especially defensively) was ugly, the Buckeyes came out on top with a 35 to 28 shootout victory to improve their record to 3-0. At times during the first three games of the season, you can see signs of good (maybe even great things) happening, but then you see stuff that make you remember, oh yeah...this team was 6-7 a year ago. The past two weeks the Buckeyes have raced out to take comfortable leads, but then have made it stressful on their fans by allowing their opponents to hang around with their sloppy play at times. However, the Buckeyes are 3-0 and have one more non-conference game on their schedule to iron out a couple things, before jumping into Big Ten Conference play up in East Lansing (Sept. 29), when they take on Sparty. After watching the Irish go into Spartan Stadium and come out of there with a 20-3 win, that road trip, not looking as difficult as expected. An imperfect team with a perfect record, hey! things could be worse, we could be Arkansas fans.

Boomer's Urban Renewal: A Buffet of Marque Games for Week 3

Who's hungry for some more CFB? ME! ARE YOU?!?

With Rutgers, 23 to 13 come from behind victory over USF last night on TNF, it got my taste buds craving another full weekend of college football. With Week 3, it provides us with a buffet of plenty marque games on the slate this weekend. After their recent announcement of their move to the ACC, Notre Dame travels up to East Lansing to face Sparty for ABC's primetime main course. Some other games that will caught your eye down the buffet line include: USC at Stanford, Florida at Tennessee, and Alabama at Arkansas. Some other appetizers that you can sink your teeth into have UNC traveling to Louisville, Cal at Ohio State, and Texas traveling to Ole Miss. Whatever team you cheer for and wherever they are playing make sure to do one thing this weekend.....bring your appetite.

Boomer Report: Reds gunning for 100, AL-worse Indians, & Browns travel to the "Jungle"

Homer's 7 IP's strong, Reds sweep a 3-game series vs. Pirates.

The nightmare of this 2nd half is almost over.

It's Moondog's Time

 Yes my boss is Moondog and yes, that blonde haired female is my co-worker!

The Cleveland Cavaliers!  We are just under a month away from the NBA preseason (Cavs open up Monday, Oct 8 against some Euro team).  Since the NHL probably will be postponed a few months by this weekend with ANOTHER lockout, I figured let's get the hoops talk started.  If you follow the Cavs at all you know the last bit of any meaningful news was that Kyrie Irving broke his hand slapping a wall.  Well that's basically healed at this point and Camp Scott, as the players call it, is right around the corner.  What to expect this upcoming season?

Boomer's Diamond/Gridiron Notes: Final 3 Weeks in Baseball; Overreaction in the NFL

The final 3 weeks of the season, which team(s) win the race?

The final few weeks of the MLB season, are going to be as exciting as watching a mid-season sausage mascot race in between the top & bottom of the 6th. Ok, maybe a little more entertaining (or less), depending on what team you cheer for. However, with a number of division races along with the Wild Card spots up for grabs, the final three weeks in the MLB season are sure to be interesting. With that I'd like to give you my predictions on who I think will be making plans for the 2012 MLB playoffs starting in early October. In the AL, I like the Orioles (East), White Sox (Central), and Rangers (West) winning their respective divisions, (Yeah, the O's pick is a reach) and I like the Athletics and Yankees to grab the two WC spots in the AL. With that said, in the NL its a bit easier to make my predictions. Winning the divisions will be: Nationals (East), Reds (Central), and Giants (West), and the Braves and Dodgers snatching the two WC spots. I'll check back here in a couple weeks to see how I did (I'm thinking 10/10!, haha). In other news, my Fantasy Baseball team grabbed the 2-seed in the playoffs in the 8 team league I'm in, and I have a bye this week (Yes, I can focus all my attention on my Fantasy Football team, which stumble out of the gate in Week 1). With the completion of the MNF doubleheader (I DVR'd the Raiders/Chargers Game, to fix my no-football Tuesday blues) last night, Week 1 of the NFL season, is done. Of course, a lot of overreaction with either your team fortunate enough to win their opener, you have dreams of making the Super Bowl, and if they lost you're calling for changes already. Enjoy everyone, another week of fastballs & home runs with a side of hard hits & touchdowns. Hunt for October 

Welcome to the NFL, rookie QB starters, 1-4 in Week 1 Games.

Boomer's Game Recap: Browns can't finish, Eagles rally late to win by 1

D'Qwell Jackson's finish (front flip?) on his pick-6 vs. Vick/Eagles

Recap: Despite 5 turnovers, Eagles rally late, beat Browns by one.
Box Score: Eagles 17, Browns 16 Final

Another season. Another home game. Another season-opener defeat. Since 1999, when the Browns returned to the NFL (was it worth it?) the Browns have hosted the season-opener all but once (down in Tampa Bay to start the 2010 season). However, the Browns moved to 1-13 in those season-openers with their "cant' believe it, same old, how are they going to lose this one, we were right there" one-point lose (17 to 16) lose to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday afternoon. It's the same old story for the Brownies, who despite forcing 5 Eagles turnovers (4 INT's by Vick), failed to get the job done "finish" and start off yet another LONG season with a heart-breaking 1-point lose. The whole afternoon was set on a "bad omen", when Browns starting QB Brandon Weeden, got trapped under the football field-size American flag when it got unraveled for the singing of the National Anthem. UGH! No other team in the NFL forces 5 TO's and loses let only scores just 16 POINTS in the game! A team that many were predicting to participate in the Super Bowl?, the Eagles didn't look anywhere close to a Super Bowl contender on Sunday up in Cleveland vs. the Browns, but like for the last decade or so, the Browns found another way to not to win. #fireshumur

Boomer's Game Recap: Buckeyes fend off Knights

Knights Defense, no match vs. Braxton (141 rushing yards, 3 TD's)

Recap: Braxton rushes for 3 TD's, throws another, leading Ohio State to win over UCF
Box Score: Ohio State 31, UCF 16 Final

The picture pretty much summarizes the Buckeyes game from this past weekend vs. UCF. The Knights defense were unable to chase down, Ohio State's starting QB Braxton Miller, who again, "put the team on his back", accounting for 296 yards of total offense, 4 TD's (3 rushing). It was another record setting day for Braxton, with his 3 rushing scores (37, 6, 8) became the 1st Buckeye QB to rush for that many in a single game since 1978. With starting running back Carlos Hyde leaving the game in the 1st half (knee injury), the Buckeyes offense centered around the arm/legs of Braxton, as the Urban spread attack still is a work-in-progress. There were some +/- I saw in the game on Saturday, but on a day that saw the Big Ten go 6-6, it was nice to see the Buckeyes come out early take the lead, then surge ahead earlier in the 2nd half. On another note, how ignoring was it to hear them continue to talk about the "noise" factor in regards to Ohio Stadium? C'mon, thanks a lot Grandpa O'Leary.

Boomer's Urban Renewal: Intrigue Outlines Week 2

SEC welcomes Texas A&M and Missouri this weekend.

Like a student entering their first year at a new school, Texas A&M and Missouri are about to find out what its like to be the new kids on the block. Tomorrow, the Aggies host the Florida Gators (3:30 ESPN) in their 1st game in the SEC and 1st game of the season due to last weeks opener being PPD, thanks to Hurricane Isaac. As for the other newbie on the block, the Missouri Tigers host the Georgia Bulldogs under the lights in Columbia (7:45 ESPN). Let's see how the SEC welcomes their new classmates as high-powered offenses go up against SEC defenses. As for the rest of the weekend, a trifecta of Big Ten/Pac 12 matchups highlight the action, USC travels east to the Big Apple, and more FCS schools sell out for the money to have their lunches handed to by the FBS big boys (see FLA St./Savannah St. spread). The Cincinnati Bearcats raced past their Big East foe PITT Panthers, 34 to 10, in the Thursday Night Game of the Week. Bearcats starting QB Munchie Legaux paced the Bearcats offense with 322 total yards of offense and two passing TD's.

Boomer Report: Votto Returns, Indians play spoiler, & Modell dies

Votto made his return, to the line-up vs. the Phillies yesterday.

Corey Kluber got the W for the Tribe on Labor Day.

Boomer's Diamond/Gridiron Notes: September push in MLB; Kickoff Week in the NFL

Teammates greet Chipper at home, after his 3-run Walk-off.

Labor Day marks the end of summer (unofficially) and with that the MLB settles into its final month of the regular season. I really wish the season would wrap up around this time and the playoffs are played during September. However, thats not the case and there's nothing quite like October baseball and watching your favorite team in the playoffs. The final month should provide us with some entertaining baseball, as division races heat up and we see who claims the Wild Card spots (now with having two WC's per league). Last September, fans in Atlanta & Boston were treated to epic collapses by each of their teams, as they went from being postseason locks to planning early vacation into the off-season. On top of the MLB season coming to an end, this week marks the Opening "Kickoff" Week in the NFL. It all gets started tomorrow night (Wednesday Night Football? YES!!!), when the Giants host the Cowboys. Which means the month of September will be filled with drama-filled baseball games and the opening month of the NFL season. Enjoy folks and make sure you remember to update your Fantasy Baseball (playoff time) and Fantasy Football lineups though out the days/weeks. Wake me up when September ends???.....More like, "No Sleep till October". Updated MLB Standings

The best part of the year, Football Season.

Boomer's Game Recap: Buckeyes rout Redhawks



An amazing one-handed grab by Devin Smith, jump started the Buckeye's O.

Recap: Miller rushes for 161 as the Buckeyes win Meyer's debut
Box Score: Ohio State 56, Miami (OH) 10 Final

Ahhh, it's good to have Buckeye football back! After a slow-start (seriously, that 1st quarter was rough to watch), the Buckeyes racked up 538 total yards in their season opening win vs. Miami (OH), 56 to 10. The Urban Meyer Era is officially under way and for the most part I liked what I saw. A slow-start is common for the opening weekend, especially when you are breaking in a new offensive scheme vs. someone other then your scout team. However, after that "Catch of the Year"/Play of the Game by Buckeyes WR Devin Smith #15, the offensive seemed to get settled into the game plan and flexed their muscles vs. the Redhawks defense. Boomer's Player of the Game goes to starting QB Braxton "Atlanta R&B Sensation" Miller, who racked up 368 total offensive yards plus 3 TD's (2 passing) in his first game in Coach Meyer's spread offensive attack. I liked how the Buckeyes kept the pedal down (wish they would of punched it in to the end zone tho, on the final play of the 1st half), but after going up 35-3, early in the 2nd half, the Buckeyes continued to work their new offense in and looked score often. Remember folks, Meyer's gonna try and hang a half 100 on any opponent no matter if its lowly-Miami (OH) or that team up north. Saturday was the start of a new era in Columbus for the Scarlet and Grey, and from what I saw, things look to be headed in the right direction for the 2012 Ohio State Buckeyes football team. One down, 11 more to go! Is it Saturday yet?