Making it all make sense

So much for what was supposed to be an easy win for the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday. The Eagles were dominating the St. Louis Rams 34-7 in the beginning of the second half but that quickly fell apart. The team pretty much decided to check out for the last part of the third quarter and almost gave the game back to the Rams. A final score of 34-28 was way too close for comfort. This week they play a much improved New York Giants team on Sunday Night Football. The Eagles are tied for first in the division with the Dallas Cowboys, who beat the Houston Texans in overtime last week. The NFC East is a lot more competitive than I thought it would be this year. It's made for some good games and now the matchups really start to matter.

All the first round division games for this baseball season are over and with some interesting results. The most surprising outcome in this round was when the Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. They were able to do this so easily, sweeping the Angels in just three games. I had thought the Angels would have had a better showing. The Kansas City Royals and the  Baltimore Orioles are now battling for the American League pennant after the Orioles completely took advantage of the Detroit Tigers' weak bullpen in that series.

In the National League playoffs there were some really good games to watch as well. The Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants played the longest playoff game in baseball history in terms of time. The game went for six hours! The Giants won that game and advanced. The St. Louis Cardinals played the Los Angeles Dodgers in a series of games that brought a bunch of media attention to a great past Dodgers pitcher, Sandy Koufax. The comparison of Clayton Kershaw to Sandy Koufax was a bit premature, since once again, the Dodgers were unable to advance. Until the Dodgers can win a World Series it is not a fair comparison. What is impressive is that the San Francisco Giants or the St. Louis Cardinals will represent the National League in this year's World Series for the fourth straight time.

In the world of International soccer, the much anticipated "last" game for Landon Donovan was Oct. 10 with the U.S. playing against Ecuador. Donovan has been a controversial figure in the sport due to his odd personality, but he is one of the U.S. team's best players ever. He will continue to play out the rest of the season on the MLS stage for the Los Angeles Galaxy and then retire completely from the sport. Replacing him will be difficult.