The Sports Monitor

I've never seen a more exciting night in baseball than Wednesday when the Braves completed their collapse and the Red Sox finished their epic fall, allowing the Cardinals and Rays to earn berths in the playoffs. The whole night was an instant classic. Within minutes, the Red Sox blew a one-run lead in the ninth inning. They were just one out away from forcing a playoff for the American League wild card. Instead, closer Jonathan Papelbon gave up a double, another double and a single to blow it. Papelbon doesn't get all the blame. Outfielder Carl Crawford couldn't come up with a diving attempt at a single to left field, which drove in the winning run. Three or four minutes later, the Rays capped their rally from seven runs down to beat the Yankees. Evan Longoria smashed his second home run of the game, setting off one heck of a celebration in Tampa Bay. Longoria's homer hugged the foul pole and just cleared the fence. It was amazing switching from game to game, ...

The next 10 days will go a long way to determine the Pirates' fate this season. Today, the Bucs start a three-game series against the Cardinals at PNC Park. After that, it's a brutal, seven-game trip on the road against NL East powers Atlanta (four games) and Philadelphia (three games). The Pirates begin play today percentage points ahead of the Brewers for first place in the NL Central. The Cardinals are only one game back while the Reds are four. The Braves and Phillies, for now, look like two playoff teams, with the loser of their NL East race likely the wild-card winner. If the Pirates can survive these 10 days, then they head into August a contender. If they stumble, especially in the first half of this stretch, I can easily see management holding off on any big moves before the July 31 trade deadline. Hopefully, the Pirates can continue their strong play, find some key hitting and get some big wins. Then it's up to general manager Neal Huntington to show us ...

I'm a Kurt Warner fan. I've been since he took the NFL by storm after rising from the AFL's Iowa Barnstormers and stocking shelves to make ends meet. So it should be no surprise that I'd like to see him return for another season. Warner still can play. The Cardinals have one heck of an offense. And, if I were a die-hard Arizona fan, I wouldn't want to see Matt Leinart taking snaps next season either. When the Steelers played the Cardinals in the Super Bowl last year, it was one time where I wouldn't have been upset with the opposing  team winning. The Cardinals have lots to like, led by Warner, and followed by Larry Fitzgerald and Ken Whisenhunt, to name a few. Usually, I'd rather see an athlete retire a year too early, rather than a year too late. And too often, they hang on too long. With Warner, it would be at least two years too early. Hopefully, we can see at least one more.