WEEKEND SPORTS

Today, all about sports.  I have a lot of TV-watching planned for this weekend, and my teams are likely to mostly lose.  

• Hawaii football at Air Force:  no chance here.  The elevation is 6,621 feet, second most to Wyoming's field.  Hawaii always loses at Wyoming too.
• Hawaii women's volleyball:  the team has injuries and seems to be wallowing.  Should lose tonight against Cal-Davis.
• 
  Marcus Mariota will start for the Washington Commanders against the Atlantic Falcons because the starting QB is injured.  Won't be shown in Hawaii.
• The Miami Dolphins host the New York Jets on Monday night football, so this game will be televised in Hawaii.  They are 0-3, and Tua Tagovailoa is having a bad season.
• 
  Team USA is being soundly beaten by the Europeans in the Ryder Cup.  Continues today and ends tomorrow.  One lowlight was the appearance of President Donald Trump yesterday.  With him was granddaughter Kai Madison Trump.  

• 
  She is a skilled high school golfer.  
• She has a golf scholarship coming to the University of Miami and already gets lucrative endorsement deals.  
• Has a handicap of 0.5.
• Is a classmate of Charlie Woods, son of Tiger Woods.  Her mom, Vanessa Trump is dating Tiger.

• 
  15 Craigside had a tournament yesterday at the Barber's Point Golf Course.  I had not played for a month, but did well and won a dollar.

The Major League Baseball season ends on Sunday.  Then the post-season starts on Tuesday, September 30.  According to Google AI:

Teams that have clinched playoff spots: 

• National League: Philadelphia Phillies (NL East), Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central), Los Angeles Dodgers (NL West), Chicago Cubs (Wild Card), and the Padres.
• American League: Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners (Wild Card), and the Red Sox.

Key Division and Wild Card races:

• AL East: 

  The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays are tied for the division lead, with the Blue Jays holding the tiebreaker. 
• AL Central: 

  The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers are tied for the division lead, with the Guardians holding the tiebreaker. 
• AL Wild Card: 

  The Red Sox have clinched a spot, but the Houston Astros are still in contention for the final Wild Card berth. 
• NL Wild Card: 

  The Reds and Mets are in a tie for the final Wild Card spot, with the Reds holding the tiebreaker. The Diamondbacks have been eliminated from the race. 

The Major League Baseball postseason.

• Starts on Tuesday, September 30, 
• Six teams each from the American and National Leagues qualify.
• The three division champs from each league. 
• Three additional teams with next best records from each league.
• The current qualifiers.

• The two division leaders winners with the best records in each league will receive a bye.  
• The wild card series will be a best-2-of-3 format.  All games will be on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
• The Division Series will be a the first team to win three games.  ALDS airing on FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes; NLDS airing on TBS/Tru TV/HBO Max: Game times are TBA.
• The World Series begins on Friday, October 24, and could extend to November 1 if the World Series goes seven games.  First team to win four games is the champ. All games will be on FOX.
• There are some differences, as for example, extra innings will NOT place a runner on second base.
• Managers have two challenges/game.

I have six ESPN fantasy baseball teams.  

• Dedicated readers of this blog might remember that when I went to Japan for the Osaka World Expo in April, I could not access my teams.  They were doing well.
• Well, we then took an Oceania cruise from Yokohama to Vancouver.  I was then able to find my fantasy teams in Vancouver, but, in 10-team leagues, they were now #4, #6, #7 and #9.  I should Have abandoned them, but for the challenge, did the best I could to in this lost year.  In the process, I got two more teams, so was up to 6.  As of yesterday, here is where they were:
• The #9 team rose to #3.
• The #7 team is now second, and has a tiny chance to catch up in these final two days.
• All the other four teams will win their league.

There are excellent NCAA football games today.

• LSU at Mississippi 3:30 EDT
• Ohio State at Washington 3:30
• Alabama at Georgia 7:30
• Oregon at Penn State 7:30

I end with my three school alma maters.

• McKinley High School, Honolulu.
• Stanford University, Palo Alto.  Don't remember this song,  Come Join the Band is sort of memorable.
• Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.  Also can't recall ever hearing this.  Fight for LSU?  Nope, doesn't sound familiar.  Hey Fightin' Tigers.

Plus the top College fight songs.  

• A memorable one is Yale's Boola Boola.
• Then there is The Eyes of Texas, except it is just another rendition of I've Been Working on the Railroad.
• Michigan's Hail to the Victors.  Love those pom-poms. 

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