GO BEACH!!!

The 49ers have started their brutal end of November beginning of December schedule. This is either a cruel joke or someone at the NCAA has lost their mind.

As of today, the Long Beach 49ers have a 3-1 record. On November 16th, they traveled to Pittsburgh and beat the #9 Pittsburgh team 86-76. Not bad since Pittsburgh has not lost to a non-conference team at home in 58 games. Go Beach!!! They then went to San Diego State on November 19th to take on the Aztecs. They ended up losing in OT. They then came back home on Tuesday night against Boise State and gained a win. Go Beach!!!

So far, so good. But, in a three week period, the 49ers will take on #1 North Carolina, #7 Louisville and #14 Kansas. All of these games are on the road. And to make their holidays just a bit brighter, the 49ers are traveling to the Diamond Head Classic on December 22 and they will be playing #12 Xavier. Wow.

If they can come out ahead on some of these road games, you have to put them in the Top 25. GO BEACH!!!

RAILSPLITTERS MAKE IT TO SEMIS

Lincoln High School got a major scare from the Orange Wave of Jefferson High School in their quarter final play-off game. The Railsplitters pulled out a 30-28 win.

Jefferson High School made it into the play-offs with a 4-7 record due to their strength of schedule. In their first round play-off game, Jefferson stunned Canarsie to advance. Jefferson was hoping to pull another stunner against the Railsplitters.

Lincoln was up 24-6 at halftime but Jefferson came out firing in the third quarter. With 5 minutes left in the third quarter, Lincoln's quarterback, Jesel Jones threw an interception that was run back. Then to add more drama, Lincoln fumbled on the ensuing kick-off and Jefferson recovered. Jefferson got the ball into the endzone with a little more than a minute to go in the third. This cut the Lincoln lead to 24-20.

With Lincoln up by two points at the end of the fourth quarter, Jefferson tried an onside kick but Lincoln recovered, securing the win. They now advance to the semi-finals against Clinton High School on Saturday in Coney Island.

Good news, bad news. Good news is, we are one game away from the finals at Yankee Stadium. Bad news is, we got to practice over Thanksgiving.

LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!

The New York Rangers will be facing the Philadelphia Flyers on January 2, 2012 in the NHL Winter Classic. HBO cameras are now following the New York Rangers around for their 24/7 series. The first sneak peek will be on November 25, 2011. It will be fun listening to the players that are mic'd up during practice.

The HBO special is going to be fun to watch over the next few weeks but what is even more fun to watch is the Rangers this season. The loss on Saturday put an end to their seven game winning streak. Tonight the Rangers will put the loss on Saturday behind them and try to start another streak. The next four games are against Florida, Washington, Philadelphia and the Penguins. 

What is great about this years roster is that they have a core of players that they obtained through the draft. The Rangers selected Lundqvist in the seventh round in 2000. Dubinsky and Callahan were drafted in 2004, Sauer and Staal in 2005, Ansimov in 2006 and Del Zotto and Stepan were both taken in 2008. It is great to see that the Rangers have built from within. And you have Marian Gaborik who is scoring goals again and Brad Richards is doing everything. The defense has been great despite the loss of Staal to the injured reserve.

BC LIONS AND WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS IN GREY CUP

Next Sunday the BC Lions will take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup game. This is the Super Bowl for the CFL. This is a great accomplishment for the BC Lions since they started the season at 1-6.

Next Sunday's Grey Cup will pit Buck Pierce of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers against Travis Lulay of the Lions. Lulay was Pierce's understudy when Pierce was the Lions starter. Lulay has matured immensely during this season. When the Lions played the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on August 13, Lulay was pulled in the second half of that game. The Lions eventually lost 30-17. That defeat dropped the Lions to 1-6. After that game, the Lions and Lulay have become an unstoppable team. They have gone 11-1 since that game.

Yesterday, the BC Lions went up 26-3 at halftime in their playoff game against the Edmonton Eskimos. Lulay had 241 yards passing and two touchdowns before the half. During the second half, Lulay ran the ball 61 yards for a touchdown. This put the Lions up 40-16. That run from scrimmage happened to be the longest run from scrimmage by a Lion during a play-off game. The BC Lions eventually won the game 40-23.

The 99th Grey Cup, which is being played in Vancouver, will definitely show that the BC Lions of today are not the BC Lions that met Blue Bombers back in the summer.

THE GAME HAD TRAGEDY

On Friday, my good friend lost his father. From all of us here in The Cheap Seats,we send our condolences to you and your whole entire family. Irving will be waiting for him to show him the ropes and give him advice on which barber chair not to sit in. Maybe they can have a conversation on whether the Dodgers were better off in Brooklyn or in Los Angeles.

Yesterday, at The Game, tragedy struck in the parking lot. Before the Yale-Harvard, a U-Haul truck carrying kegs of beer swerved out of control in the grassy parking lot outside of the Yale Bowl. The U-Haul struck three people. One of these victims was fatally injured. Our condolences go out to the family and friends of this person.

Inside the Yale Bowl, Harvard dominated Yale 45-7.  Harvard has wrapped up the 2011 Ivy League Conference Title. Harvard put on an offensive clinic including a fake field goal, that could only be used for The Game.

This is a classic rivalry. The Game is always scheduled for the final game of the season and it is the most important game for these two teams. Winning of The Game is more important than their overall record.

 
In other Ivy League action, the Columbia Lions finally won a game. Hopefully this made their band happy.

 And tonight the BC Lions take on the Edmonton Eskimos for a berth in the 2011 Grey Cup.

SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE

As a supporter of Penn State football, I can say this, the school did the right thing yesterday in firing Joe Paterno. The school needs to fire everyone on the staff. You have identified the main culprit and all the people who placed the football program ahead of innocent victims but have you rooted out all accomplices? Get rid of the whole bunch and start new.

Joe Paterno was Penn State and Penn State was Joe Paterno. Paterno said that he told the proper authorities when he learned of this. Good for you, but you did not do enough. You are Joe Paterno and if you pushed the issue to be investigated properly they would of. You are Joe Paterno. You now are Joe Paterno, the man who allowed this to happen in his house and not the man who had most wins in college football. Sad. How does a sport take precedence over the heinous act of child molestation?

Here is a strange thought. These heinous acts happened over a number of years. Isn't it kind of strange that right after Paterno becomes the winningest coach in college football history, these heinous acts are addressed. Coincidence? I think not.

THE RESULTS ARE IN

On Friday's card of the Breeder's Cup, I went 3 for 3. Not bad considering I was using a system that I developed and had not used it on a big race day. The test was going to be Saturday's card.

The first race on Saturday that I was interested in was the third race at the Breeder's Cup. This was the Grade 2 Marathon. My system picked Birdrun. Due to the odds that he was going off at, I played him to place. He pretty much stayed right near the front throughout the race and finished 2nd by a head. He paid $7.20 to place, not a bad way to start the morning.

I had two more betting interests in the 5th and the 7th race. In the fifth, my system picked the number 2 horse, Giant Ryan and he turned into a Giant Nothing. He finished 8th out of 9 horses. No problem, this was the first ticket that I did not cash in two days. I can live with it. The second betting interest in the 7th race was Irrefutable. Basically, if he ran any slower he would of come in first in the eighth race.

I am now wondering if the system has run it's course. I had to tell myself that everything is cyclic and just forget those two races. My next race was the 8th race and my system picked the number 1 horse, St. Nicholas Abbey from Ireland. This horse was being shipped all the way from Ireland just to run in this 3 million dollar race. Aidan O'Brien is the trainer and he was having his 18 year son, Joseph, ride this horse. Before I made my bet, I thought to myself, this is going to be amazing or the kid is going to freeze and the horse will do nothing.

They get loaded into the gate and when the gates open, St. Nicholas Abbey gets out to fourth place in this mile and half jaunt on the grass. O'Brien keeps the horse on the rail and within striking distance. When they started to come into the final turn, St. Nicholas Abbey went two wide from the rail. He was now behind a wall of horses. The kid better have some guts and get that horse to the outside and as they came spinning around the turn, O'Brien swings the horse five wide and St. Nicholas Abbey responds. He clears the field going away. Joseph O'Brien is now the youngest jockey ever to win a Breeder's Cup race. For his job well done, the horse paid $15.60 and $7.20. This was a nice ending to a real fun day watching and wagering on the Breeder's Cup.

The system took on the Breeder's Cup and it went 4 for 7. Not bad, maybe I should sell it on the Internet?

BIG SATURDAY

Yesterday was the first day of the two day Breeder's Cup card. I did well in my betting interests. At the Breeder's Cup, I went 3 for 3. At Aqueduct, I went 2 for 4. Hopefully, my Saturday's picks are going to be as good as Friday's. We'll see.

Once the Breeder's Cup is over, the LSU and Alabama game will start. A great game with a lot on the line. I like LSU in this one even if they are on the road. A game that I am going to keep an eye on is the OSU/Kansas State game. An OSU win keeps them in the mix.

And big football is not just here in the States. North of the border in Canada has a huge game in the CFL. The BC Lions are taking on the Montreal Alouettes. A BC win will give them a bye in the first round of the play-offs. An amazing feat for a team that started 0-5.

And tomorrow, my high school, Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, NY, is going up against Fort Hamilton High School. Lincoln is looking to complete an undefeated season with a win over Fort Hamilton. Go Big Blue.

BREEDER'S CUP 2011

Friday brings the Breeder's Cup to Churchill Downs and Aqueduct opens for the fall meet. What is so special about this Aqueduct opening is the addition of video lottery terminals and electronic table games in the area where the Grandstand used to be. New York is moving in the right direction to get people to come to the track. They are even charging free admission, everyday. Every track that has went to adding slot machines and other forms of gambling in addition to live racing has shown an increase in attendance and on-track betting pools.

Even with that exciting news, Churchill Downs will be the focus on Friday and Saturday. The Breeder's Cup is a two day card bringing the best of the best to compete with each other. There are three races that I am interested in for Friday. They are the Grade 1 Breeder's Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, the Grade 1 Breeder's Cup Filly and Mare Turf and the Grade 1 Breeder's Cup Ladies Classic.

In the Sprint I like Turbulent Descent but I will not get a price. It won't cost me to watch. The Turf race has Nahrain going off at 7-2 on the morning line. The race that Is going to give me a price is the Ladies Classic, I like It's Tricky at 5-1.

Those are my three plays for the Breeder's Cup for Friday but Aqueduct is where the money is going to be. I have a play in the second race at 4-1 and I am going to play a Pick 3 starting with the fourth race. We'll see how it goes.