Here’s what went down on Football Friday on Gambo & Ash…

Thinking Too Much? Joe Girardi’s Yankees were down 4-0 headed into the 7th inning, then managed to take a 6-4 lead in the top of the inning only to blow the lead to the Angels in the bottom. Ash thinks the pressure of the series might now be on the Yankees, while Gambo thinks the fact that New York has two chances to win at home puts the pressure squarely on the Angels. The Yankees’ ace, CC Sabathia, is available if a Game 7 is necessary, while the Angels’ ace, John Lackey, won’t be available to start again until their potential World Series appearance.

Conventional Wisdom Backfires: Game 5 was on the line in the bottom of the 7th when the Angels had two runners on behind by two runs. Mariano Rivera is one of the greatest relievers of all time, and Gambo is adamant that Girardi should have gone to Mo in the 7th, at the most crucial point in the game. Traditionally, Rivera is referred to as a “Closer,” but he’s unquestionably the best pitcher the Yankees had available, and saving him for the 8th or 9th, which is very common in the Major Leagues, ended up costing the Yankees the game and a chance to wrap up the series.

KTAR Producer and Reporter Rod Lakin joined us after being at Cards practice Friday morning and reported that Anquan Boldin, although still questionable for Sunday, looks and feels much better after practicing. Rod also mentioned that if Boldin misses Sunday night’s game, Early Doucet may take a majority of the available snaps.

No Owner, No Problem: The Phoenix Coyotes, behind Dave Tippett, are a much better team than they were with Wayne Gretzky as their head coach. They were able to beat the Red Wings on Thursday night, this after beating the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins earlier in the season. The Coyotes are now 6-2 and have a 4-game winning streak.

Running Wild: Brandon Jacobs wants the New York Giants to run more. Even though the Giants have a top 3 rushing attack in the NFC (#3 Yards per Game, #2 Yards per Rush, #1 Total Yards), Jacobs thinks the Giants abandoned the run game too soon in their recent loss to the New Orleans Saints. He’s hoping that he and Ahmad Bradshaw will get more carries on Sunday night against the Cardinals at Giants Stadium.

From Bad to Worse: Johnny Damon was ruled out on the base paths on a play in Game 5 of the ALCS that replays showed was clearly a bad call. Bud Selig made a wise decision in revealing the umpires for the upcoming World Series early. In 24 of the past 25 World Series (1997 the exception), the crew featured at least one umpire working his first World Series. However, after a postseason filled with gaffes by the league’s officials, Selig has decided only to use experienced umpires in order to have a more fairly umpired Series.

Wanna Be Like… Q: Rookie WR Hakeem Nicks of the New York Giants has been compared to Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin, and recently made comments that he thinks those comparisons are warranted. The two may or may not have a chance to square off this weekend, as Boldin is questionable to play in Week 7.

Upset Alert: Which NCAA football teams should be on upset alert going into Saturday? Some games to keep an eye on are Florida/Mississippi State, Oregon at Washington, Iowa/Michigan State, Penn State/Michigan, and Oklahoma State/Baylor. Gambo says, “If Iowa doesn’t win, no team in the BIG 10 is worth a darn.” Ash says USC isn’t on upset alert because there’s no way Oregon State beats them in The Coliseum, despite the Beavers having won 2 of the last 3 meetings between the 2 PAC-10 teams.

They’re going, going back, back to Cali, Cali: It looks as though everything might be in place for an NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting involved, claiming that a team and a new stadium would create thousands of jobs for the struggling California economy. Gambo and Ash agree that the Jacksonville Jaguars are the most likely candidate to be relocated, or that at least any restructuring would center around the franchise.

World renowned sports handicapper BRANDON LANG joined us on this Football Friday to break down all the big matchups in what should be very entertaining weekend of football in the pro and college ranks. Some of the games Brandon likes: Texas minus 13, the Dolphins plus 7, the Colts minus 13, TCU minus 3, and the Cardinals plus 7.

We were joined by our ESPN NFL analyst MARK SCHLERETH who previewed the showdown Sunday night between the Cardinals and Giants, the surprising Denver Broncos, and analyzed this weekend’s big games including the Vikings @ Steelers, the Bengals hosting the Bears, and the 49ers travelling to Houston to take on the Texans.

 

 Brandon Lang [11:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (50)

 

 Mark Schlereth [21:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (14)