Stories (1235/0)
2022 Division Series Preview
I do love the Division Series, which once served as the opening round of the MLB Postseason. The League Division Series (LDS) officially debuted in the 1995 season, and has been played under a best-of-five format ever since. From 1995 until 2011, the Division Series marked the beginning of the postseason, with three wins advancing the two winners in each league to the League Championship Series (LCS). Since 2012, the LDS is the second round after the Wild Card Game (now the Wild Card Series), and the LDS means, as Jim Ross often says, "Business is about to pick up."
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 18 Recap: Giving Thanks
Week 18 of the CFL season saw the league celebrate the final holiday of the regular season: Canadian Thanksgiving. As we all know, in Canada, the Thanksgiving holiday falls on the second Monday in October, and similar to Americans, they do celebrate with turkey and football. Entering Canada's Thanksgiving Weekend, a few teams could lock up playoff spots and a first-round bye, while two others faced elimination. The scenarios for Week 18 were as follows:
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Unbalanced
Villainess Review: Sofia Aquino (Alone in the Dark)
The hits just keep on coming from Tubi! After a Sunday filled with football, postseason baseball, and some good TV, I decided to head to Tubi to check out their latest original flick, Alone in the Dark. This latest Lifetime-esque film centers on Bri Collins, who is serving a year of house arrest due to being convicted as an accessory to crimes committed by her ex-husband, Michael Miller, though she was only charged out of Michael's spite. She does have a few things to help her deal with the 365 days she would be confined to her home; one is her good friend and lawyer, Sofia Aquino, and the other is Michael's wine collection.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Geeks
What Went Wrong: Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda
The New York Mets' 61st season was full of immense promise. They won 101 games this season, which was only their fourth 100+ win season in franchise history. The other seasons: 1969, 1986, and 1988. In those first two years, the Mets won the World Series, with 1969 being the famous "Miracle Mets" year where they came back from 10 games down in the National League East to win the division, while 1986 was the infamous Bill Buckner series; Mookie Wilson's walk-off RBI single going in between Buckner's legs in Game Six. The Mets did not win the pennant in 1988, but would win two more pennants in 2000 and 2015. 2016 was their last postseason until this year, and their journey would begin with the Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: The Last Hurrah
Without question, the centerpiece of the St. Louis Cardinals' 2022 season was the return of their beloved legend, Albert Pujols. The Cards were coming off a 2021 season that saw them go on a winning tear in September to nab one of the National League's Wild Card spots. This year, the winning tear started about a month or so early, basically nabbing control of the National League Central from the Milwaukee Brewers, and never looked back. The Cardinals faced off against the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card Series, and Game One looked like it would be quiet, until Juan Tepez struck with a pinch-hit two-run HR in the sixth inning.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: It Was 8-1
Ooh, boy. Well...that happened. You know, as a fan of a division rival, I only save my actual hatred for the Boston Red Sox. I have no reason to hate the Toronto Blue Jays. I remain fascinated by their team history; joined the American League in 1977, won their first division title in 1985, and became an AL powerhouse throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, which led them to back-to-back World Championships in 1992 and 1993. Many moons passed before they would become a playoff team again, but the Blue Jays appear to be a perennial playoff team at the current moment.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Unbalanced
What Went Wrong: Where's the Offense, Rays?!
In any postseason, it is never good to be the first one eliminated, but someone has to carry that burden. In the case of the 2022 MLB postseason, that unfortunate dishonor went to the Tampa Bay Rays, who were ousted in two games in the best-of-three Wild Card Series by the Cleveland Guardians. For the Rays, this is their second straight postseason appearance since their run to the World Series in 2020. 2021 saw the Rays win a franchise record 100 games and capture the American League East, but they were ousted in the Division Series by the Red Sox. This year, they had a strong campaign that saw them nearly capitalize on the New York Yankees' late-summer skid, but once the Yankees woke back up, the Rays fell off in September, going from the #4 seed (the home Wild Card position) to finishing as the #6 seed, but still qualifying.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Unbalanced
Chucky Review: "Halloween II"
At long last, Chucky's back on USA on SyFy, but before that, the latter network aired a block of all of the films, and of course, because it's October, Peacock (NBC's streaming network) has all of the films (except the first one), as well as Season One of the TV series. Speaking of, the second season opener began with a recap of Season One, which ended with the planned endgame that saw an army of Chucky dolls kill several victims inside a movie theater, with Andy Barclay driving off with a number of the dolls with plans to eliminate them. Meanwhile, the show's central characters, Jake Wheeler, Devon Evans, and Lexy Cross, become connected due to their experiences with Chucky, but on a good note, Jake and Devon began their relationship.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Horror
She-Hulk Review: "Ribbit and Rip It"
So when we last left Jennifer Walters, her love life took another hit. As it turned out, Josh Miller, Jen's wedding hook-up turned potential love interest, was drinking that Intelligencia kool-aid. However, life, as it often does, moves on, as does Jen's profession, and regarding the latter, Jen is shown with her new client: Eugene Patilio, aka "Leap-Frog." Eugene's complaint involved accusing Luke Jacobson, designer of the superheros, of making a faulty supersuit, as it caught on fire during one of his missions. Upon hearing Luke's name, Jen had one problem: Luke makes suits for her as well; in fact, he was in the process of making a gown for the Southern California Law Awards gala.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Geeks
2022 Wild Card Series Preview
The MLB Postseason is here! I've always enjoyed baseball's playoffs, I love everything about it, even the little things, such as MLB using the word "postseason" instead of "playoffs." Out of the three leagues that use a series format, MLB has the shortest postseason; the quest to crown a champion takes under a month with very few days off. This year begins the modified postseason that was made official during the lockout in March and April of this year, which features the 12 best teams participating in this round robin tournament. The single-game Wild Card round that has opened the postseason since 2012 is now changed to a best-of-three Wild Card Series, with one series pitting the #3 seed (the lowest division champion) against the #6 seed (the lowest Wild Card), while the other series features the other two Wild Cards (seeded #4 and #5).
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Unbalanced
Villainess Review: Veruca (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Hard to believe that Buffy the Vampire Slayer turns 30 this year. The original movie came out in 1992 and starred Kristy Swanson in the title role, and among the cult classic's cast included David Arquette, Donald Sutherland, and the late, great Luke Perry. It was five years later that The WB gave us a TV series under the same title, with Sarah Michelle Gellar in the title role that would serve as her first breakout hit and lead her to huge things in her career. She was not the only breakout star from the series; Alyson Hannigan (Willow) went on to do American Pie and also star as Lily Aldrin on How I Met Your Mother, and Seth Green (Oz) would begin a long run as the voice of Chris Griffin on Family Guy, as well as create the hit Adult Swim series, Robot Chicken.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Horror
Phillies Complete 2022 Postseason Field
When the Seattle Mariners ended their 21-year postseason drought on September 30, 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies ended up becoming the new owners of the longest current postseason drought in MLB...for three days. At the time of Seattle's clinch, the Phils were on their own path, and on October 3, 2022, it was completed. The Phillies defeated the Houston Astros, 3-0, to clinch the last overall remaining spot in the 2022 MLB Postseason, and end a drought that lasted 11 years.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 years ago in Unbalanced