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Baseball Quick Hits

On Instant Replay

UPDATE: Click here for Joey Matschulat’s look at the state of umpiring in general this morning at BBTiA.

It’s been a rough October for MLB umpires, who have struggled to get some of the most obvious calls correct. Among a litany of his peers, Phil Cuzzi came under scrutiny in the ALDS series between the Twins and the Yankees when he ruled a Joe Mauer liner foul even though the ball landed well inside the chalk. The Twins went on to lose the game 4-3 in 11 innings and the series in three games.

But the general outrage may have culminated with Tim McClelland’s bizarre call Tuesday night — which you can watch here — that resulted in Robinson Cano being called safe at third base despite standing with his foot clearly off the bag as Angels catcher Mike Napoli tagged him with the ball. Though the call didn’t affect the outcome of the Yankees’ 10-1 blowout win, the miss was so evident that many fans and critics have spoken out for the expansion of instant replay in baseball.

Much maligned commissioner Bud Selig is uninterested in addressing the issue, seemingly not wanting to leave a legacy, fair or not, as the guy who let the Steroid Era happen and the guy who slowed the game down. The argument against says that a game based so heavily on pace and timing would be hurt by frequent interruptions to check fair or foul, out or safe, etc. And where do you draw the line? Foul tips? Hit batsmen?

But missed calls like we’ve seen so far can’t continue, especially not at this point in the year. After playing through a grueling 162 game schedule — 163 if you count their one game playoff with Detroit– the Twins were done in just three games, and at least one of them was affected by a shoddy call. And the fact that even experienced umpires are botching plays has only emboldened those who want to bring MLB into a more technological state of existence. So can baseball really afford to wait for a major umpiring meltdown before they implement some kind of change?

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Your 2009-10 Dallas Mavericks Preview

Grab a cup of coffee, and settle in. We’ll be waiting after the jump in a game-worn Nick Van Exel jersey with a big pile of words.

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Game Plan Friday: Atlanta Falcons

When the schedule came out in April, a few non-NFC East games jumped off the page at me. The Back-to-Back in December of my preseason Super Bowl teams San Diego and New Orleans looked incredibly formidable.

And then there was this one; the first ever Sunday Afternoon game played at the Brand New Death Star against last year’s Cinderella playoff story, the Atlanta Falcons.

I wrote about their franchise in pretty elaborate detail yesterday , so check that out if you want to see more about the impressive building of this team. But, today, let us visit about what this all means and how the Cowboys can seize a big opportunity to make a move in the NFC Playoff picture.

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