Andy Barch's Ruthless Aggression:Offense wins More than Just Games
Before we begin, don’t judge my credibility by the record displayed in my weekly NFL Picks.
By doing so, my articles will carry as much weight as Ally McBeal soaking wet and will be about as useful as a day care center run by Michael Jackson. Although I’m sure that day care would end up being a “Thriller”. We’ve all heard the old adage, offense wins games and defense wins Championships.
How much of this has actually held water in the MLB Post season or the early goings of the NFL season? Offense has dominated both the ALCS and the NLCS. Tons of runs have been scored making offense the name of the game in this exciting post season. Here are the cold hard facts. In the ALCS there were only 3 games in which fewer than 10 runs were scored between both teams combined. The 2 teams scored 86 runs combined in the 7 game series, an average of 12.2 runs per game.
That in itself is amazing. In the NLCS the scoring wasn’t quite as extreme but they still did average just over 9 runs per game in the 7 game series. Proving that offense was the name of the game in both League Championship Series Matchups. Essentially, it was the offense that won those championships.
Want to talk more offense? How about the NFL early on in the 2004 campaign? Sure its still relatively early and a lot of these statistics may be obsolete in a few weeks but right now its fun to speculate and determine what these mean exactly. So far, if anything, its been proven that a good defense doesn’t amount to Jack Squat. Here are the numbers. Of the top 10 defenses in the league through 6 weeks, only 4 have winning records and the combined record amongst all 10 teams is 26-31. For the top 10 offensive teams in the NFL teams it’s been a completely different story. Count them out, 8 of the top 10 offensive teams in the league have winning records, and of the 2 teams without a winning record one stands at an even 3-3 (Houston). Combine that with the fact that the 10 teams with the top offenses in the league have a combined record of 39-15. Numbers which are astounding in a league that has predicated itself on the idea that Championships are typically won with top-notch defenses and mediocre offenses.
I’ll be the first to tell you that at the beginning of the ALCS I wasn’t all that excited. I’m all about the element of surprise, when I saw that the Sox and Yankees were ready to square off I thought to myself….”didn’t I just see this last fall?” When the Yanks took the first three games of the series, like 99% of the baseball world I began to recite the words of Lil’ Flip’s “GAME OVER”. Then I started to recite the lines of the song “Game Over” which was performed by Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Scarface back in the mid 90’s but at that point I drew a bunch of blank faces and I cleared out the room. Little did I know that I should have been reciting the words to Chumbawumba’s “Tub Thumper”. Who would have guessed it? After all these years of this rivalry and the recent off season involving so much hype, many thought this would be the year that the Red Sox would overcome the Evil Empire in the post season. However, Curt Schilling’s ankle looking liking Randy Orton’s face after Taboo Tuesday, Pedro’s recent track record against his illegitimate fathers in New York and Manny Ramirez looking as confused as a 3rd grader attempting an algebra equation in the outfield and on the bases were all reasons to believe why the Red Sox would allow history to repeat itself. Alas though, the Red Sox defied the odds and became the first team in baseball history to erase a 3-0 deficit in the post season. So many Boston brethren at this point are fubared to the fullest extent, meaning they will not be able to recover in time for the beginning of the fall classic this weekend. Sometimes I wonder if the purpose of this season was to eliminate the Yankees or win a championship and eliminate the curse. Which is why I like the Cardinals in the World Series.

*Speaking of the Cardinals, how entertaining was that series? Didn’t see it? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Sickening to think that this series just didn’t get the attention it deserved, partially because this is the kind of series that we expected to see from the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Personally, I had more of an emotional attachment to this series than I did to the Yanks-Red Sox series. I couldn’t help but watch to see if the Killer B’s were going to continue to break this post-season hex and make their first appearance in the Fall Classic. At the same time what’s not to like about this Cardinal team? Pujols may be the best right hand hitter of this era, Jim Edmonds just might be the best defensive Center fielder of this era, and who could forget their post game antics after their series against the Dodgers?
This is the kind of series that you watch, and wish that both teams could win. What was hard for me to swallow here was the fact that there were many occasions in which Tony LaRussa wasn’t “managing”. Instead, he was doing a live on camera interview with Fox, while the game was in progress.
Does anybody else find this ridiculous? Whats next? In the 9th inning will they have Isringhausen talk to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver after every pitch he throws with a 1 run lead facing Cabrera, Ramirez and Ortiz? It is absolutely ridiculous. Interviews with players, managers and umpires are pre and post game activities in baseball. Is Tony LaRussa not managing or not thinking about the game when his team is on the field? The entire concept is absolutely ridiculous. Leave the managers and players alone during the game, there is no need to take LaRussa away from the game while its going on. That would be like asking Joe Buck to stop doing play by play during the broadcast to ask fans to log on to Foxsports.com to vote on the play of the game……wait a minute, that would be like asking Joe Buck to stop doing play by play during the broadcast to tell the fans about the 18 new fall shows coming up on Fox……wait a minute. I’m not getting too far with that.
Essentially, it would be like asking Joe Buck to stop doing the play by play, and speak at a charity event during the game. While Joe Buck doesn’t mind speaking at charity events, I’m sure he’d be quite perturbed if he were asked to engage in a different activity while he was required to conduct the play by play, quite like the managers and coaches who are trying to do their jobs during the game and are being asked to stop what they’re doing to speak to the media. After the game fine, before the game, that’s just great, during the game, absolutely not. The integrity of the game is being questioned by this kind of activity. All jokes aside, this should be a great series. Enjoy the offense and the edited version of the Big Lebowski.