Brief Sports Update for October 2, 2015

Baltimore Defeats Pittsburgh

Well, it was beginning to look like my prediction that the Ravens would take down the Steelers was going to fall by the wayside when I watched Pittsburgh score a touchdown to build up their lead to 20-7. I was a bit surprised that they did not go for the two-point conversion and make it a two touchdown game, and it may be a decision that came back to bite them.

Little by little after that, the Ravens clawed their way back in, scoring a quick touchdown, then a pair of field goals later in the game to tie it up and force overtime.

Once in overtime, the Ravens stopped the Steelers offense, then managed to get a viable field goal attempt, which they converted for the win.

It marks the first victory for the usually powerful and dangerous Baltimore Ravens on the 2015 season. The Steelers, in the meantime, have more questions than ever, with the quarterback issue seemingly unresolved after Roethlisberger's injury, and with a very tough schedule coming up.

Blue Jays Win AL East!

Yes, for the first time since 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays have won the AL East!

Apparently, that was the longest drought in sports, according to some newscasters, although that seemed to me highly unlikely. But then, when I thought about it and tried to think of another franchise in sports that had gone longer without qualifying for the playoffs (active streaks, anyway), I simply could not do it.

Yes, 1993 was a long time ago, although I remember it well. Pearl Jam was at the height of their popularity, and grunge was the thing. Seattle was the city of cool. Kurt Cobain was still alive, and fronting Nirvana, the band that had got the whole thing rolling. Clinton was a young, new president. The Soviet Union had collapsed just a couple of years earlier.

In sports, the last of the great Canadiens teams of the 20th century had hoisted the Stanley Cup in the spring, while the Chicago Bulls had completed the first of the two runs of three-peats that the franchise would win in the nineties, when they easily won "Team of the Decade" honors. In the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys were enjoying a run at the top, with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irving as the three deadly weapons on offense, and a fast and strong, relentless defense. The United States was about to host the World Cup the next year, and West Germany had won the prior World Cup just before the two Germanys reunified. Mike Tyson was still in prison, and Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe were the biggest rivalry in that sport.

That was the last time that the Toronto Blue Jays won the AL East, although they also won the World Series for a second year in a row. I remember them well, pulling for them, and feeling that they represented Canada well.

Let's go Blue Jays!