Starting Five

1.Blue Bloods

The St. Louis Cardinals ousted the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 5 of their NLDS last night, which you already know. As it stands this morning the Cardinals will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, while the Boston Red Sox will meet the winner of tonight’s Detroit Tigers-Oakland Athletics Game 5.

In other words, the most successful franchises in baseball history are maintaining the status quo.

The New York Yankees, who scored their most important victory in months yesterday by retaining the services of manager Joe Girardi for four more years –at $16 million…that’s almost as much as Nick Saban earns! — have the most World Series appearances (40) and wins (27).

In terms of appearances, next up are the San Francisco Giants, with 19.

But after the Yanks and Giants, the next five teams with the most World Series appearances are the quintet that remain in this October’s postseason: Cardinals and Dodgers (18), Athletics (14), and Tigers and Red Sox (11).

Curiously enough, the next franchise in line after these seven? The Chicago Cubs, who have been stuck on 10 since 1945.

2. Another Budd Blooms

Remember Zola Budd? Even if you do not, ESPN informed those of you too young to recall the 1984 Olympics with this 30 For 30 Nine for IX film last August entitled “Runner.” As opposed to “Runner Runner”, which is an entirely different film.

Anyway, the South Africa native reproduced. Here, in the United States. And her daughter, Lisa Pieterse of Myrtle Beach’s Carolina Forest High School, is nearly as precociously talented (remember, mom competed in the Olympics at age 19). Last May as a sophomore Pieterse won the state championship in the 3,200-meter run (approx. 2 miles) with a time of 11:17.53.

This autumn, during cross-country season, Pieterse is opening eyes by breaking existing 5-K course records by as much as 90 seconds. While Budd’s daughter is not in Mary Cain’s class –the Bronxville (NY) High senior currently holds FIVE national high school track records– Pieterse still has two more seasons of spring high school track and field ahead of her. How bizarre would it be if Zola Budd’s daughter wound up competing for the U.S. Olympic team in 2020?

3. Tennessee and Virginia Tech To Trade Paint in 2016

 

The Volunteers and Hokies will play a football game at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016.

From a geographic perspective, it makes tons of sense. Knoxville is 110 miles southwest of the NASCAR short track shrine, while Bristol is 125 miles northeast.

Honestly, this is genius. The South is thumbing its nose at Michigan and its college football record-115,109 attendance that the Wolverines had for last month’s game with Notre Dame. This contest could draw as many as 160,000 fans –it’ll be the gridiron equivalent of Bonnaroo.

The sideline reporter MUST be Dr. Jerry Punch, and I’m all for the NCAA allowing players to settle disputes by tossing helmets at one another. Also, uniforms may be festooned with as many corporate sponsors as possibly can fit.

The game is tentatively scheduled for September 10, 2016 –this dude’s 50th birthday. That’s scary (anyone who knows me will tell you I don’t behave a day older than 12).

I’m not sure how the asphalt track itself will play into seating, etc., but I do hope that if there’s a major collision late in the game –and it’s football, so there probably will be –that the game is not completed under a yellow flag.

4. What’s the Matter, Horn?

This is like no Disney movie you’ve ever seen.

An entire cast and crew spent 25 days shooting a film, guerrilla-style, at both Disney World and Disneyland, without anyone from the Magic Kingdom catching on. The result is a dark indie film, Escape From Tomorrow, about a family of four (it’s always a family of four) in which the dad learns on the first day of the family vacation to Walt’s paradise that he has been laid off.

So far Disney has wisely decided not to attempt to block the film, which will be released tomorrow, but the writer and director, Randy Moore, can no longer get espn.com on his mobile. I kid. I think. Anyway, here is Moore narrating how a scene was shot for the New York Times.

5. Sheryl Crows to Feds

The latest person to come out as a witness against Lance Armstrong-enough-to-be-my-man (well, there’s a hint for you)? Ex-girlfriend and recording star Sheryl Crow, who told federal investigators that she watched the six-time Tour de France champion receive a blood transfusion in 2005. According to secret documents obtained by Medium Happy, the conversation went a little like this:

Lance: “God, I feel like hell tonight…”

Sheryl: “Of course you do. Every day is a winding road.”

Lance: “I’ve got no one to blame for every time I feel lame.”

Sheryl: “You know, hon, it’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”

Lance: “Such a muddy line between the things you want and the things you have to do.”

(Places IV into arm)

Sheryl: “That’s cool. I like a good beer buzz early in the morning.”

Lance: “If it makes you happy, then it can’t be that bad.”

 

Meanwhile, Outside magazine heralds a new documentary, “The Amstrong Lie”, as “the first and last Lance pic you’ll ever need to see.”

Remote Patrol

Game 5, Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics

TBS 8:07 p.m.

***

Rutgers at No. 8 Louisville

ESPN 7:30 p.m.

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Arizona at Southern California

Fox Sports 1 10:30 p.m.

Let’s go channel-surfing now, everyone is learning how… Begin with Teddy Bridgewater and the Cardinals, who face a 4-1 Rutgers team that took Fresno State to overtime earlier this season. It’s not that we are THAT high on the Scarlet Knights, but we are all willing to manufacture reasons to believe someone on the ‘ville’s schedule is a quality opponent. Then it’s off to Justin Verlander versus Sonny Gray, getting the start for the A’s in Game 5 ahead of the team’s veteran ace, Bartolo Colon. Finally, how will the post-Lane Kiffin Trojans fare against an Arizona squad whose only defeat was on the road at U-Dub? All-American WR Marqise Lee is “very questionable” (is that better or worse than Dan LeBatard?) for the Fighting Fight Ons.