White Sox Claim AL Central

Pitching once again on three days' rest, young southpaw John Danks allowed a meager two hits in eight innings and veteran slugger Jim Thome launched a LONG home run as the Chicago White Sox won the American League Central division title last night with a 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins. The Sox improbably defeated a third different team in three consecutive days to capture the crown after the team looked to be dead following a three-game sweep last week at the Metrodome. But the Twins, who lost two of three at home to Kansas City, could not put the final nail in the coffin this past weekend and were unable to win in front of Chicago's raucous crowd. Young right-hander Nick Blackburn nearly matched Danks, but Thome was able to connect on a solo homer to lead off the seventh to provide all the scoring the Sox would need. The South Siders now join the North Side Cubbies in the playoffs for the first time in the same season since...1906...the year the Sox beat the Cubs a crosstown series that more than a few fans are dying to see this year. I certainly consider myself lucky in operating out of the Windy City.

Shades of '67 in Corvallis

Pete Carroll's USC Trojans--the greatest team we've ever seen according to many in our great media--fell again to an inferior conference opponent. Mike Riley's Oregon State Beavers (Wow, you were outcoached by Mike Riley, Pete? Really?) thoroughly outplayed the Trojans as the Beavers upset the Trojans 27-21 last night in Corvallis. It was the second straight upset of USC at Reser Stadium, and the victory stirred memories of OSU's win over USC in 1967, when the Beavers beat the O.J. Simpson-led top-ranked Trojans 3-0. Since 2006, USC is just 2-3 against teams from the state of Oregon.Oregon State dominated from the get-go, building a 21-point first-half lead before capitalizing on a late Mark Sanchez interception that led to the final Beaver touchdown and a 27-14 lead with three minutes left.

USC tailback Joe McKnight, who rushed for 105 yards against Ohio State, finished with just 10 yards. Meanwhile, Oregon State's tailback had little problem confusing the USC front. Diminutive Jacquizz Rodgers, just 5'7" and 185 pounds, ran for 186 yards and two scores as the Beavers beat the Trojans for the third time in the last four games in Corvallis.

On the baseball beat, the AL Central just became a lot more interesting than it was even three days ago when it was very intriguing. The Chicago White Sox were swept out of the Metrodome, a house of horrors the last few years for the team, and now actually trail the Twins by a half-game with a weekend of games to play. The White Sox were content with merely taking one game, but could not hold an early 6-2 lead and eventually fell in extra innings 7-6. The Twins now host the Royals for the final three regular season games while the Sox welcome in the Indians. If necessary, the Sox have a makeup game with the Tigers that would be played on Monday afternoon.

Yost is Toast in Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Brewers gave manager Ned Yost his walking papers yesterday and promoted third-base coach Dale Sveum. The four-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies was clearly the last straw for GM Doug Melvin, as the club went 3-11 to begin September and was outscored 75-38. Robin Yount accepted Sveum's offer to be bench coach, a role that Yount held in 2006 until resigning to spend more time with his family. While the move is pretty unprecedented in major league baseball, we see firings of this nature all the time in the NHL. While Sveum admitted himself that he won't make much of an impact, as it ultimately comes down to the players, owner Mark Attanasio and Melvin are banking on a strong playoff push here in the last few weeks of the season.

It's become abundantly clear in the last few weeks that the AL Central has become the NL West. The only good thing about this is the fact that this division probably won't get decided until the very last day of the season, which is always exciting and great for baseball.

How about that Monday Night Football game last night? Dallas outscored Philadelphia 41-37 in an untraditional NFC East showdown in Big D. I'd venture to say that Donovan McNabb and the Eagles offense was the most impressive aspect of this matchup, as McNabb played without his top two receivers but still looked as good as he was back in his days with T.O. I love his rapport with DeSean Jackson, and I still love DeSean despite his awful folly at the one-yard line because all the kid does is rack up 100-yard games.