MaxPreps Top 20 for Kentucky High School Football

Here is the current top 20 in KHSAA football:

1.  Lou. Male:  7-0

2.  Lex. Christian:  8-0

3.  Lou. St. Xavier:  7-1

4.  Lex. Douglass:  8-0

5.  Boyle Co:  7-1

6.  S. Warren:  7-1

7.  Woodford Co:  8-0

8.  Lou. Trinity:  2-6

9.  Corbin:  8-0

10.  Lou. Manual:  6-2

11.  Owensboro:  7-1

12.  Madison Cent:  7-1

13.  Lex. Catholic:  6-2

14.  Ryle:  6-2

15.  Beechwood:  8-0

16.  Pikeville:  7-2

17.  Lex. Bryan Station:  7-1

18.  Lou. Christian Academy:  7-1

19.  Lou. Ballard:  5-3

20.  Johnson Cent:  6-1

Here are the top teams in our part of the Commonwealth:

27.  Mayfield:  8-0

31.  Graves Co:  6-2

42.  Union Co:  7-1

47.  Henderson Co:  5-3

61.  Hopkinsville:  4-4

65.  Paducah Tilghman:  3-4

MLB Playoffs, Day Thirteen

There's not too much to say about last night's games.  In the last day game of the year at Fenway Park, the Astros crushed the Red Sox 9-1.  (Here in the D.C. area, by the way, folks would say that they "boat-raced" the Red Sox.  I have no idea where that term comes from or why it indicates that one team crushed another.)  And then, in the nightcap, the Braves bounced back from their heartbreaking loss on Tuesday by burying the Dodgers 9-2.  The Dodgers seem to be running out of pitching -- they gave up two runs in Game One, five runs in Game Two, five runs in Game Three, and nine runs in Game Four.  That's not a good trend.

Anyway, tonight the Dodgers play what may be their last home game of the year, while Boston and Houston are on their way to Minute Maid Park, where they will play Game Six tomorrow.

Tonight's game:

7:08 P.M. Central:  Atlanta at Los Angeles (Atlanta leads 3-1).

NFL AP Poll and Survivor Pool

 Here is the top 10s in the AP's NFL Poll for this week:

1.  Arizona:  6-0

2.  Tampa Bay:  5-1

3.  Baltimore:  5-1

4.  Los Angeles:  5-1

5.  Dallas:  5-1

6.  Buffalo:  4-2

7.  Green Bay:  5-1

8.  San Diego:  4-2

9.  Tennessee:  4-2

10.  Kansas City:  3-3

Miami is Number 29.  The Football Team is Number 26.

Six teams on bye this week, and the only top-10 game is the noon Central game on Sunday in Nashville between Kansas City and the Titans.  That should be a very entertaining match-up.

Meanwhile, in Survivor Pool:

Week One:  Los Angeles 34 - 14 Chicago (survived)

Week Two:  Cleveland 31 - 21 Houston (survived)

Week Three:  Denver 26 - 0 New York Jets (survived)

Week Four:  Buffalo 40 - 0 Houston (survived)

Week Five:  Tampa Bay 45 - 17 Miami (survived)

Week Six:  Indianapolis 31 - 3 Houston (survived)

This week we have an obvious choice, as Houston travels to Arizona to face the undefeated Cardinals, who just crushed Cleveland on the road.  We will take Arizona and hope to survive for another week.

MLB Playoffs, Day Twelve

Well, my summary at the end of the Day Eleven posting did not turn out to be very accurate.  The Dodgers fought back from a 5-2 deficit in the bottom of the eighth, after looking absolutely hopeless for most of three hours.  They tied the game on a three-run homer by Cody Bellinger, and then got the winning run a few batters later on a two-out double by Mookie Betts.  So here are the Dodgers' last four games:

Thursday, October 14:  Los Angeles 2, San Francisco 1 (Dodgers scored the winning run in the top of the 9th)

Saturday, October 16:  Atlanta 3, Los Angeles 2 (Braves scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th)

Sunday, October 17:  Atlanta 5, Los Angeles 4 (Braves again scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th)

Tuesday, October 19:  Los Angeles 6, Atlanta 5 (Dodgers scored four runs in the bottom of the 8th for a come-from-behind victory)

You could not ask for more drama.  The Dodgers have played 36 innings in a row where every game was up for grabs.  And they play again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in Boston, the Astros got the pitching that they needed.  They got one and one-third innings from Zach Greinke, then two thirds of an inning from Brooks Raley, three innings from Cristian Javier, one inning from Phil Maton, two innings from Kendall Graveman, and one inning from Ryan Pressly.  If you add it all together that's nine innings, and in those nine innings the previously red-hot Bostons only got five hits and two runs, and they struck out 10 times.  For hours, Boston clung grimly to the 2-1 lead it had enjoyed after the first inning, but the relentless Astros struck for one run in the 8th to tie the game -- and SEVEN in the 9th to win it by 9 to 2.

So in both series, the advantage has shifted toward a team that seemed to be in huge trouble just a few hours ago.  Atlanta still has both a 2-1 lead and home field advantage, but the Braves lost the chance to pretty much finish off the Dodgers this afternoon.  Houston is tied 2-2 with Games Six and Seven scheduled for Minute Maid Park, so the Astros will like their chances.

Here are tomorrow's games (potentially the last game of the year in Fenway):

4:08 P.M. Central:  Houston at Boston  (Fox Sports One) (series tied 2-2)

7:08 P.M. Central:  Atlanta at Los Angeles (TBS) (Atlanta leads 2-1)

Remember the other day when I talked about that great relaxed feeling you have at the beginning of a new seven-game series?  Well, that's all over now.  These are now four very anxious fan bases.

MLB Playoffs, Day Eleven

Yesterday the Red Sox jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, and cruised to an easy 12-3 win.  The Astros' pitchers have been absolutely hammered over the last two games, and BoSox now lead the series two games to one.

Today's Games:

4:07 P.M. Central:  Atlanta at Los Angeles (TBS) (Atlanta leads 2-0)

7:07 P.M. Central:   Houston at Boston (Fox Sports One) (Boston leads 2-1)

It was nice to see one more day game at Dodger Stadium, but it turned into a disaster for the Dodgers as center fielder Gavin Lux lost a key fly ball in the sun, dropped it, and set up a four-run inning for the Braves.  That took the heart out of the Dodgers, who trail 5-2 in the eighth and are clearly thinking about their vacation plans after a long year of trying to defend their title.

Meanwhile, Xander Bogearts whacked a two run homer for Boston in the bottom of the first, and that was the TENTH home run that the Red Sox have hit in this series so far.  Red Sox lead 2-1 after one.

Both of these series seemed very evenly matched after Sunday's games, but the National League is now pretty much over -- and the Astros need some pitching to avoid going down 3-1.