West Coast Feed

Nuggets from the 'Feed' bag

The best doubles team at the U.S. Open has been the McEnroe brothers, Patrick and John, both of whom have been calling matches, and then later analyzing them for ESPN. There is no sibling rivalry evident, at least on the air. Patrick is thoughtful and straightforward while John's insightful and not-afraid-to-say-what-I-think commentary resembles his style when he was one of the greatest players ever, that being winners down the baseline.

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Bowl games in September? This weekend's schedule has several non-conference match-ups that have a post-season flavor. For example, Oregon plays Purdue (Pac-10 vs. Big Ten), Fresno State visits Wisconsin (WAC vs. Big Ten), USC is at Ohio State (Pac-10 vs. Big Ten) and Notre Dame has its annual tilt with Michigan (Independent vs. Big Ten).

The Big Ten, which has been taking some heat lately over the digression of its football teams, needs to come out ahead today to help re-establish the respect it used to have from the media and fans. A big step in halting the slippage would be for Ohio State and Michigan to win. Notre Dame is surprisingly a three-point favorite at Ann Arbor.

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It's looking more like the final regular season series between the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies in Los Angeles (Oct. 2-3-4) has a good chance of determining the winner of the National League West. Either way, both teams will make the playoffs. One will be the Wild Card team which will open the playoffs either against Philadelphia or St. Louis

Going into today's schedule, the Dodgers lead by a mere 2 games after routing the Giants last night, 10-3, in San Francisco. The Rockies, who have won eight straight, rallied in the ninth at San Diego to beat the Padres, 4-1.

Jim Tracy, who took over managing duties in Colorado after Clint Hurdle was fired, deserves strong consideration for Manager of the Year in the National League.

Joe Torre is a legitimate candidate too, considering how he has had to juggle the starting pitchers amid injuries and inconsistent performances, to keep his team in first place.