Day 14: Lidge, Bobby Cox, The Great One and more

HEADLINES

1) The Marlins rallied from down a run in the ninth to beat closer Brad Lidge and the Phillies and giving Lidge yet another blown save. If you're Charlie Manuel, who are you giving the ball in the ninth inning with a one-run lead in the playoffs?

Ben: I'd try Ryan Madson. I mean, Lidge has proven he isn't performing like last year, and Madson, while he hasn't been lights out in brief appearances as closer, can handle the duties. If I were Manuel, I wouldn't exactly be thrilled with my options here, but what can you do. I'd hope for quality pitching from the starting 3 or 4 during the playoffs and then hope for lighting in a bottle from Madson. He's got good stuff, just needs to be consistent for 14 games.

Boz: I'm sticking with Lidge. I know he's had his struggles this year but name me a closer who hasn't had an off year. Even the great Mariano Riveria and Trevor Hoffman have had a year where they didn't quite always get the job done. Lidge is the most experience closer on the Phillies' roster and helped them win a world series last season by not blowing one save. I know Ryan Madsen has pitched well this season but you have no idea how he'll respond with a one-run lead in a playoff series where every game matters. I would stick with Lidge and hope that he'll figure it out. With that being said, Phillies lose in the first round of the playoffs.

2) Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox has signed a one-year contract extension and has stated that he'll retire after the end of the 2010 season. Where do you rank Cox in the all-time manager ranks?

Ben: I rank him 4th. He's obviously behind Connie Mack and Tony Larussa. I'm going to  put him behind Earl Weaver as well. While Weaver didn't have as long term success as Cox has had, I like his style and what he did for the Baltimore organization. I really like Bobby Cox because he was able to win with great pitching, lesser talent, and good all-around baseball players. Rarely have the Braves had the "best player" at a position, yet they still mounted 14 straight division titles on the wall and a World Series trophy. I'm sad to see Bobby go, but the Atlanta Braves should be happy they were able to spend 24 years, 19 straight, with him leading their team.

Boz: I would put Cox third behind Connie Mack, the all-time leader in wins by far, and behind Tony LaRussa, who has third in wins and I've personally witness do more with teams that had lesser talent. Cox has over 2,000 career wins but what really stands out is that he has six 100-win seasons and lead the Braves to 14 straight division titles which is a mark that no team will probably ever match. He won five NL pennants and a world series. What I like most about Cox is that in an era where its hard for a coach to stay with a team for a long time, Cox has spent the last 19 seasons with the Braves.

3) In rare hockey news on The Sports Desk, Wayne Gretzky has stepped down as the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes after four straight years where the Coyotes failed to make the playoffs. Why do you think that Hall of Fame players usually fail to find success in coaching or ownership roles?

Ben: I'm not surprised. Players that are as gifted as Gretzky is do not understand how to coach greatness, it just came to them. So, when they are asked to teach players how to be good players, they are stuck, because what made them great, was usually just typical play for those guys.

Many all-time great players cannot coach, because greatness is in their DNA and that doesn't translate to the chalkboard, it only grows over time. Gretzky failed, but it wasn't all his fault.

Boz: The one case that I can think of with a hall of fame player succeeding as a coach is Larry Bird with the Pacers. He didn't win a championship but he posted a pretty good record. Other than that, I'm not quite sure why these players never succeed. It always seems that the worse player you were in your playing days, the better coach you'll end up being. I was a Division III tennis player, making me believe that I would be a pretty good tennis coach. You would think since these players were leaders for their team as players, that that could translate to being good leaders as coaches. Hopefully someone will come along and be able to break the trend.

4) Chiefs head coach Todd Haley has suggested that he would not hesitate to bench Matt Cassel during the team's week 3 game? Is it too soon to think about benching Cassel after one game?

Ben: Yes. C'mon Haley. This is a rookie head coach making a rookie head coach mistake. You do not bench high dollar guys. If Cassel were a 35 year old vet, I'd understand, but he's not. You just signed him to a 60 million dollar deal, and after one game you're going to bench him? That's dumb. I think you should give him a season, and see how things shake out. If you don't like him at the end of a full season, cut him loose, but not after one game. That's insane.

Boz: Yes. You signed the guy to a big $60 million plus contract and you've only given him one game to prove that he is worth that big contract. He had a pretty decent game against the Raiders, it just resulted in not many points and a loss. The Chiefs have plenty other problems that could be resulting in Cassel not being able to get many wins this season. Their offensive line is awful at best, they have one good receiver, and Larry Johnson hasn't been good for two seasons. Give the guy more of a chance, his back-up (Brody Croyle) is 0-9 in his career as a starter.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK 'EM

Last week:     Ben: 6-0        Boz: 3-3
Season:          Ben: 14-4      Boz: 9-9

1) Iowa at No. 5 Penn State (Saturday, 7 p.m.)

Ben: PENN STATE. Happy Valley isn't easy to win in, and at night it's even tougher. I got Penn State by two scores and Iowa, while a surpise so far, reverts to their typical Hawkeye-ness and crumble at Linebacker U.

Boz: PENN STATE. I'm picking Iowa to lose for a fourth straight week and I think that I am finally going to get it right. I know the Hawkeyes beat the Nittany Lions last season but they can't repeat, definitely not in Happy Valley. I'm giving this the Greg Bouslog Gaurentee. The Nittany Lions win by at least two scores.

2) Illinois at No. 13 Ohio State (Saturday, 2:30 p.m.)

Ben: I'll take a risk and go ILLINOIS. They have the athletes and the offense that give OSU trouble. I'll take U of I and hope for the best. A big day from Juice and Benn get me a huge win.

Boz: OHIO STATE. I would like to believe in the Illini but this is too big of a task to take in in Columbus. The Buckeyes are too tough defensively where the Illini are not. Pryor runs ragged over, through and around the Illinois defense and makes Juice Williams look like a poor man's Terrelle Pryor.

3) Notre Dame at Purdue (Saturday, 7 p.m.)

Ben: NOTRE DAME. Purdue hasn't been revelant in the Big Ten for 3 years at least, and Notre Dame has got a big offense that Purdue hasn't been able to compete with since Drew Brees resided in West Layfette.

Boz: NOTRE DAME. I know the Irish have been giving up a lot of points in their last two games but they continue to put up big numbers themselves. The Purdue offense won't be able to keep up with Notre Dame high-scoring offense.

4) No. 15 TCU at Clemson (Saturday, 2:30 p.m.)

Ben: TCU. Defense. Defense. Defense. TCU is tough and I'll take the Horned Frogs to pull another big win from the ACC.

Boz: CLEMSON. If this game was at TCU then I would be going with TCU. I always love a ranked mid-major team but Clemson has a lot of fire power, scoring at least 27 points in each of their three games. This will be a close one but I see the Tigers escaping with the win.

5) Texas Tech at No. 17 Houston (Saturday, 8:15 p.m.)

Ben: TEXAS TECH. I like Houston, but Tech put up a good fight against a very good Texas team last week and I think they'll rebound with another strong effort against the Cougars. I'll take the Red Raiders in a close one.

Boz: HOUSTON. I will take the mid-major here as I love what the Cougars have done this season. They already took down Oklahoma State on the road and the Cowboys are a much better team than Texas Tech. No problem for Houston.

6) Arizona State at No. 21 Georgia (Saturday, 6 p.m.)

Ben: Georgia. This shouldn't even be close. The Bulldogs are too good on both sides of the ball, and while I haven't watch much of either team so far, I've noticed over the last few years that ASU disappoints with the spotlight on them, and I see that happening again. Go Dawgs!

Boz: ARIZONA STATE. I guess this is a homer pick for me now that I live 15 minutes away from Sun Devil Stadium and I work home games part-time. I've picked against the Bulldogs before and it has backfired (barely) but I really like the Sun Devils offense after seeing them play twice. I worry a little bit about the defense but there's no Stafford or Moreno on the offensive side for Georgia this season.

7) No. 22 North Carolina at Georgia Tech (Saturday, 11 a.m.)

Ben: UNC. Butch Davis wins games at the college level, and he gets another big win this week. I'll take the Tar Heels in a little bit of an upset on the road.

Boz: GEORGIA TECH. The Yellow Jackets are still a good team despite being embarassed by Miami last week. The Tar Heels struggle putting up points against good teams and I think that Georgia Tech wins a low scoring affair.

8) No. 9 Miami at No. 11 Virginia Tech (Saturday, 2:30 p.m.)

Ben: TECH. I like the Hokies and I think Miami has overachieved so far this year. I think the offense of Virginia Tech steps up this week and the D shuts down Jacory Harris. Hokies all the way.....24-14.

Boz: MIAMI. This is the marquee matchup of the week. I'm all over the Hurricane bandwagon and I love Jacory Harris and Greg Cooper. Visiting teams have shown that you don't have to be afraid to go to Blacksburg after Alabama won there and Nebraska almost won there. I have the Hurricanes winning by ten.

HAPPY HOUR

Ben: Happy 63rd Birthday "Mean" Joe Green. He didn't seem so mean in that Super Bowl commercial with the young kid. Thankfully the Steelers were able to copy that with Troy Polumalu last season -- (both times leading to a ring). Seriously, how good were the defenses for the Steelers back in the 70's. Was it possible to score TD's? I  seriously don't think so.

Boz: In Ben's "Where Are They Now" fashion, I'm wishing a Happy 35th Birthday to Kiwane Garris. Garris is one of my all-time favorite Illini basketball players and my eyes lit up when I saw him on the birthday list. I actually had a Kiwane Garris jersey when I was younger. He is the Illini's second all-time leading scorer behind Deon Thomas. He was signed as a rookie free agent by the Denver Nuggets and now apparently plays for a team in an Italian pro league.