(Brent Schwert)
This just in: The Cleveland Indians acquired second baseman Josh Barfield from the San Diego Padres for prospects Kevin Kouzmanoff and Andrew Brown.
With election and entertainment news dominating headlines this past week (Britney and Kevin Federline split-boys, we’re back in the game!), there is little for sports junkies to get their fixes.
Baseball is done, the NBA and NHL seasons are in their infancy and the NFL is a week or so away from really getting interesting. It may only be the eye of the storm, but all is calm in sportsland.
That may explain why I was so excited to hear about the Indians making a mid-level trade on Wednesday, but it doesn’t stir up too much excitement for those of you without an unhealthy obsession with a team which, remarkably, they still let us refer to as the “Tribe.” So I decided to do some digging to see what else is going on in the wide world of sports this week.
First on the list is the CFL playoffs.
That’s the three-down, 110-yard field, 12 men on the field Canadian Football League, whose June to November season has slipped by unnoticed.
The West finals pit the BC Lions against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Saskatchewan has been the surprise of this year’s playoffs, but I like BC in this one. The East finals feature Ricky Williams’ Toronto Argonauts traveling to Montreal to battle the Alouettes. Montreal took the season series 2-1, but I think the Argonauts will even things up with their rivals and earn a spot in the Grey Cup.
Don’t forget the MLS.
America’s soccer league is down to two teams vying for the coveted MLS Cup. The New England Revolution, let by reigning league MVP Taylor Twellman, will face a strong challenge from the Houston Dynamo, recently transplanted from San Jose.
Canadian International Dwayne De Rosario has been stellar for Houston all year, but his nickname can only be seen as a bad omen-his teammates call him K-Fed as he bears a striking resemblance to the aforementioned Federline. Teams from the West have won six of the last seven MLS Cups, but I don’t see it happening here. New England wins 2-0.
Lastly, there’s the small matter of college basketball.
Preseason tournaments are already getting started, and several DIII teams have already pulled upsets against DI schools.
Lawrence hasn’t started yet, but Carroll began their season with an exciting treat that the Vikings got to experience last year: They played against the Wisconsin Badgers in an exhibition match.
Carroll, which is ranked 17th in the D3hoops.com preseason top 25 managed to keep it close before the Badgers surged late to win 81-61.
Maybe next week I’ll get back to writing about things that matter, like fantasy football and Nickelback. Until then, however, the Indians need bullpen help .
