Oakland A's Beer Swigging Baby All The Rage Right Now

Now this is definitely NOT legal: pic.twitter.com/twhJIjiHHZ
— Isaac Ropp (@iropp) September 23, 2013

This baby knows how to party!  While others were shitting in their pants, sucking their thumbs, and looking gross this baby stepped up his game for the Oakland A's AL West Division Champs celebration.  This baby can play on my team any day.

Top 10 College Football Teams and Heisman Contenders

Last Saturday was by far the worst college football weekend in terms of match ups and upsets.  No upsets.  No good games.  But luckily for us it will be the only weekend since the games get much more tougher as the season goes on and conference battles start.

Here are my top 10 teams.  These are how I would rank them in terms of overall performance and the strength of schedule they have faced.

1. Oregon 

2. Alabama

3. LSU

4. Stanford

5. Clemson

6. Baylor

7. UCLA

8. Washington

9. Texas A&M

10. Georgia

I got Oregon over Bama because the Tide despite the strong win in College Station have looked rather miserable in wins over Va Tech and Colorado State.  I know it goes against my premise of you can't drop the #1 team until someone knocks them down but they just aren't the same Bama from last year.  Oregon on the other hand is playing way better than I expected after Chip Kelly left for the NFL.  I thought they would take a step back but they haven't skipped a beat.  Similar to what Stanford went through in their head coaching transition a couple of seasons back.  LSU might be the best team in the country.  Unfortunately they also have the toughest schedule.  They have to go to Athens this week and still have games against Bama, Johnny Football, and Ole Miss.  Don't laugh but Baylor could be the Oregon from 3 years ago who played Auburn for the Natty.  Their offense is ridiculous (over 60 points 3 games in a row) and Art Briles can coach with the best of them.  I think right now they are clearly the best team in the Big 12 over Oklahoma and Okie State.

Now I know SEC people will want to rip my throat out for this but look at my top 10 and think for a second (maybe two if that is possible) about the PAC 12 as a legit power football conference.  Oregon and Stanford have already proven they are top 10 programs with big BCS Bowl wins in recent years.  But UCLA and Washington are coming on strong too.   I wouldn't take them over Bama and LSU but I could see them beating UGA and the Aggies on a neutral field.

TOP 5 HEISMAN CONTENDERS

1.  Johnny Manziel - He's the best player in the nation.

2.  Marcus Mariota - He only gets to play a half of football but when he does it's flawless.

3.  Jameis Winston - Jameis Christ is already a God in Tallahassee.

4.  Todd Gurley - Still the best RB in the nation but Baylor's Seastrunk is coming on strong.

5.  Tajh Boyd - He looked rather pedestrian vs NC State on Thursday.  One more bad game and he's out.

Braves Clinch NL East Title

It's hard to believe it's been since 2005 since the Atlanta Braves won the NL East.  The streak ended  yesterday in Chicago with a shower of champagne and Bud Light in the visitor's clubhouse. Congratulations go out to general manager Frank Wren for constructing a club that is solid from 1-to-25 and could sustain multiple major injuries (Huddy, Venters, O'Flaherty, Heyward, McCann, etc.) and player slumps (BJ and Uggla) and really not skip a beat all season. Also big props go out to manager Fredi Gonzalez. He's kept a loose clubhouse all season and you can see in the players that they love playing for him.

 I love seeing the Falcon's game in the clubhouse when they are celebrating.

 Now go out and win the homefield this last week. If the Braves are going to make it back to the World Series for the first time in over a decade they have to clinch it over St. Louis and the Dodgers. Currently they are up 1.5 games on the Cards for it. The Braves have the majors best record at home.  When they are away from the Ted they are only a .500 team.  Winning homefield at the Ted is imperative for a successful postseason.

With just a week left and if Heyward can come back completely healthy this would be my lineup for the playoffs.

1. Heyward - CF
2. Justin Upton - RF
3. Freeman - 1B
4. Chris Johnson - 3B
5. McCann - C
6. Gattis - LF
7. Simmons - SS
8. Elliott Johnson - 2B
9. Pitcher

I'm going with a 3-man rotation of:
1. Medlen
2. Teheran
3. Minor

Put Alex Wood and Paul Maholm as the long relievers if needed. No way either one of them should start a playoff game in my opinion. Roll with the 3 Aces and go from there.

Also get Jordan Schafer in there starting if Gattis is scuffling because his defense and speed are the best on the team in the outfield.  But there is no way you can start either one of BJ Upton or Dan Uggla.  They don't deserve to start and I don't care how much money they make.  It's playoff time.  You start your best players who have performed.

Now go out and win a World Series!