The magic that was the St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen in the NLCS has vanished. Last night it was Boggs giving up a three-run jack to Mike Napoli to break the game open, and tonight, Napoli did it again with some late-game thunder to put the Texas Rangers within one victory of the World Series title.

In the playoffs, every move that Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa made seemed to come up aces–not so now. Besides the bullpen, Allen Craig became the first player in 55 years to be thrown out twice in one game–including in the ninth inning with no one out. And both times, Albert Pujols was at the plate. Speaking of Albert, other than his three-homer barrage in Game Three, baseball’s best player is carrying an oh-fer in the Series. And with the exception of that 16-7 blowout in the third contest, the rest of the Cardinals haven’t been hitting much, either.

Well, it’s crunch time now. Can the Cardinals come back and win the last two games in their home park, or will the Rangers, only needing one more triumph to secure the prize and currently riding the hot hand, capture either Game Six or Seven to make their second straight trip to the Fall Classic a winning one this time?

Where’s Carnack when you need him?

Two ranked teams got together yesterday and put on a show for the ages. Wisconsin playing at Michigan St. and Wisconsin being the favorite on the road as a 7 point favorite. Wisconsin undefeated with one of the top quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Michigan St. with another top quarterback in Kirk Cousins. These two QB`s put on a show that we all will remember for a very long time. With the game tied at 31 apiece and only seconds to go in the game, Cousins throws a 44 yard TD pass to Keith Nichol to win the game for Michigan St. 37-31. It was one of the most exciting College football games of the year. It was also a Bad Beat for the Badgers which gave them their first loss of the season. It also showed me two rising stars in Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins. That`s my point of view, see you next time.

Any fan of Raider Nation had to be thinking the Gods suddenly were gathering again against the team. First was the passing of the iconic owner, Al Davis, a part of the pro football landscape for nearly 50 years and the architect of nearly everything Silver and Black, and then in last week’s game, quarterback Jason Campbell went down with an injury that could possibly sideline him for the rest of the season. And just when the team was starting to hit on all cylinders, only a half-game behind the first-place SD Chargers.

Instead of bemoaning the loss of Campbell, the Raiders turned that Bad Beat into a positive by making the bold move of acquiring disgruntled Pro Bowl and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson Palmer from the Cincinnati Bengals. Make no mistake, the price was steep–as much as two, number one draft choices–but Palmer is a player who could just possibly have the Raiders playing meaningful games deep into January. With a potent running attack and emerging, talented wide receivers, Palmer could be the key ingredient needed to put Oakland back in the playoffs. The ability is definitely there, and Palmer is mindful of those famous words Al Davis used to utter all the time…”Just Win, Baby!”

We’ll certainly see, won’t we…

As we move forward in this College and Pro Football season, we have seen many Bad Beats. We have seen terrific games in both College and Pro and I`m sure all of us in one form or another have had a Bad Beat. I wont bore you with my stories of Bad Beats but I can tell you this, I wont forget them and i`m sure you wont. That`s my point of view, see you next time.

The NFL Lockout is still going on between the Owners and the Players that it seems like a soap opera. Both sides not able to agree on anything. Now the NBA is in a Lockout also between the Owners and the Players. So now we have another soap opera show to go along with the NFL show. I guess Reality TV has caught on with these two Leagues. So it`s possible we wont have NFL Football or NBA Basketball this coming fall. This will affect so many people with people that work during this time of year because of these two leagues. With millions of people out of work now in this country this will move the unemployment number up from where it is now at 9.1%. I think this will be a hard pill to swallow for those people out of work when Owners and Players make millions of dollars. So Owners and Players please come to your respective agreements and lets settle your differences so you dont contribute more to the unemployment line. That`s my point of view, see you next time.

Very sad news to learn that CNN Sports Broadcaster Nick Charles passed away at the age of 64. He battled bladder cancer until he couldn`t fight the battle no more. He will be missed and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. That`s my point of view, see you next time.

With Fathers Day this Sunday I just wanted to reflect back on my Dad. He took me to many baseball games as a kidd. We were big Brooklyn Dodger fans back then and lived not far from the field that they played in. Alot of great memories of that old Dodger team of Duke Snyder and Gil Hodges. He also taught me how to shoot a basketball and of course we were Knick fans in those days. Alot of great memories of that Knick team of Bill Bradley and Walt Frazier. He also taught me how to throw and catch a football. Alot of great memories of that Jet team with Joe Namath and Emerson Boozer. He also taught me if you work hard enough you can be just about anything in life. Alot of great memories of those conversations with him but most of all the greatest memories are just to be able to be with him and laugh. I find that to be the most enjoyable to be able to just talk and laugh together. Happy Fathers Day Pops and to all of the Fathers out there who have shared those special moments with Sons and Daughters. That`s my point of view, see you next time.

This Saturday is the Belmont Stakes in the Big Apple. We will see the Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and the Preakness winner Shackleford go at it again. This race will be at a mile and a half the longest of the Triple Crown races. Not many in this field of 12 can go that far but with a purse of $1,000,000 why not take a chance. This is the way I see the race. The Preakness winner Shackleford will go to the lead and try and take this field wire to wire. He will have company on the front end with Ruler On Ice and Stay Thirsty to keep Shackleford honest. After that I see Nehro and Santiva followed by all of the other horses in the field. When they turn for home I see the front runners begining to tire and Nehro and Santiva will be one two turning for home. Now the Derby winner will be flying along with Brilliant Speed trying to run down the two leaders in the stretch drive. As we get to the finish line their will be a photo finish for the win with all four horses noses apart, between Animal Kingdom, Nehro, Brilliant Speed and Santiva. I see Santiva winning a head bob over Brilliant Speed and Nehro hanging on for third. Both Santiva and Brilliant Speed will be nice prices and boxing those two will get you a nice return. That`s my point of view, see you next time.

Thats what I`m calling LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat. Watching the NBA Finals this Heat team just has to many weapons against this Mavericks team. Dirk Nowitzki is playing at his best and giving it all that he has but the Three Headed Monster is just too much to overcome. When LeBron is not doing it, its Dwyane that does it and when its not him its Chris Bosh. The Mavericks just dont have any other scorers that could help Nowitzki out. Along with the Three Headed Monster they also have another player Udonis Haslem that plays very good defense thats giving the Mavericks headaches. The Heat have the Monsters while the Mavericks have One and only One weapon to kill it. Thats my point of view, see you next time.

I have been a boxing fan ever since I was a kid living in Brooklyn, New York. I have seen many great fights watching them on TV and of course seeing them here in this great city of Las Vegas. Great Champions like Ali, Leonard, Hagler and Foreman. I have to include another name on this list as Bernard Hopkins won a unanimous decision last night over Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal to become the oldest fighter to win a world title. That to me is amazing because Pascal I believe is 28 years old. That goes to show you that age is just a number. Congrats Bernard and keep on punching. That`s my point of view, see you next time.