JASON ROSS: THE FRIDAY FIVE
Another sports weekend is upon us and each Friday on the Lo-Down Damien Barling and I tell you about 5 things to keep your eye on over the next couple of days. So here we go with another edition of the Friday Five and you can hear this segment Friday's at 2:00 on Sports 1140 KHTK.
1.The Raiders Get Some Prime Time Love
Two games into this young NFL season and the Raiders are looking sharp. We had questions about the defense but so far so good. The offense has been tremendous as expected. On Sunday they will be showcased on Football Night in America against the Washington Redskins. Monday Night Football used to be the biggest thing going, but now it is Sunday night. NBC does a terrific job with their coverage and the Raiders will be on a couple of times this season. This will be the first offering and let's see if they can jump out to a (3-0) start.
2. Should We Be Watching Mississippi State?
The Bulldogs had a 30 point route last week over LSU, that's right, they beat LSU by 30. They follow that up with 2 more games in a row against ranked teams. I am not sure if they are real but this week will tell us more. Their middle game of 3 straight vs. ranked teams is on the road this weekend at Georgia. If they get through Georgia and Auburn next week too then they should be on your radar.
3. Two Teams In the Same Position, Must Wins?
The New York Giants made the playoffs last season and have gotten off to a slow start. The San Diego Chargers didn't make it last year and now they are the Los Angeles Chargers. Both teams are (0-2) and have already lost a division game. They both try to avoid (0-3) starts this weekend with division games. The Giants battle the Eagles and a winless start with 2 division losses would be tough to overcome. For the Chargers it would likely be worse if they lost to the Chiefs to go (0-3) because the division is so good. It's only September but it feels like they both have to win this weekend.
4. Wild Card Races
It is the second to last weekend of the MLB regular season and the divisions are almost all taken care of. 4 of the 6 division leaders are up on their competition by 9 games or more so we have to switch our attention to those chasing the wild card. The American League has 4 teams battling for the final wild card spot while the NL has 3. All 162 games matter and this weekend will be crucial for those in the chase.
5. Hoop Junkies the Wait is almost over
With media day on Monday for the Kings but earlier than that for other teams we have made it to basketball. This is the last weekend without basketball in it for a long time. Next weekend there will be preseason hoops and the Kings first game in the preseason is October 2nd. So it is here and the crazy off-season should produce a fun regular season.
