Out of nowhere this summer, a mini beef between Brandon Jennings and Kobe Bryant ensued. Well actually, it was more of a beef with Brandon and himself because we never heard a response out of Kobe. If you missed the "drama" this summer....

I was invited to an Under Armour event the other day and Kemba Walker was in the building. Kemba is one of the newest members of the Under Armour basketball roster. Being a UConn grad myself, it was tough to be an impartial journalist. How'd I do?

I think anyone who follows sports closely will unilaterally agree that what LeBron James has endured since making his decision to join the Heat has been unprecedented for an athlete. This is not an argument of whether or not it has been justified, but rather an acknowledgement that he has entered a place beyond comparison. Anything he says or does has instantly become newsworthy. Realizing this, he has decided to show a human side by doing things such as making fun of his own hairline and poking fun of himself in commercials. He was probably thinking, "If I can't beat them, I may as well join them." Aside from die-hard basketball junkies, the NBA isn't front-and-center currently thanks to the lockout. That means that James' name isn't on the tip of everyone's tongue at the moment. But apparently, that doesn't mean people can't bring up his name for absolutely no reason. Magic Johnson seems to think so. In this video below, Magic is being interviewed on stage in front of an audience in and auditorium, when he is asked a question that couldn't do less with LeBron James. (Fast-forward to the 1:05 mark):



I have absolutely no idea where that came from. Look, I'm far from a LeBron apologist, but even his biggest hater has to agree that this is getting old now. I actually lost some respect for Magic on this one. Bad enough he makes the ageless "LeBron doesn't have any rings" joke, but then takes it upon himself to explain why he isn't on Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan's level. I'm very confused. The only thing I can think of is that aside from Mike, the other guy who LeBron is compared to most is Magic. Perhaps he resents that? Your guess is as good as mine. Either way, not a good look for you Magic. Not at all.

If you're going to be in the Chicago area tomorrow and want to meet Derrick Rose, you're in luck. He'll be there unveiling his new shoe, the Rose 2s. Adidas was nice enough to send me a pair and they are fresh.

Here's how you can meet the MVP:

On Saturday, October 15 basketball star Derrick Rose will introduce
Chicago to his new shoe, the adiZero Rose 2. Prior to the "Run with D
Rose" <https://www.facebook.com/adidasBasketball>; event, Derrick will
celebrate the shoe's launch with fans at the adidas store on Michigan
Avenue and the Foot Locker on State Street.

We thought your Chicago readers would be interested in attending and
getting a chance to meet and take a photo with the MVP.

Details below and fans are encouraged to arrive early as photo ops with
Derrick are on a first come, first served basis.

LOCATION

adidas Retail store on Michigan Ave (4th Floor)
845 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 409
Chicago, Illinois 60611
9:45-11 AM

Foot Locker on State Street
219 S. State Street
Chicago, IL 60604
12:15 - 2 PM

I had the chance to speak with Jemele Hill of ESPN. She had some very interesting things to share.

In my humble opinion, The Big East tournament is the the best conference tournament in the land, which is helped by the fact that it takes place at Madison Square Garden. That makes sense since it's also the best conference in America as well. As a graduate of the University of Connecticut, let me tell you, I took a great deal of pride in bragging about how the Big East boasted the best teams.

Well, you can kiss all of that goodbye. Over the weekend, the conference just took several steps backwards and is now hanging on by a thread. Both Syracuse and Pitt applied for, and were granted membership to the Atlantic Coast Conference. For the better part of the past two decades or so, UConn, Syracuse, Pitt, Georgetown, Villanova and St. John's have been the best schools in the conference and perennially ranked in the top 25 in the nation. So with news of Syracuse and Pitt jumping ship, that means that two of the six best schools in the conference are no longer.

That was a very tough pill for me to swallow. Even while I was watching Floyd Mayweather knockout Victor Ortiz, followed by his classic confrontation with Larry Merchant in the ring on Saturday night, as well as enjoying week 2 of the NFL yesterday, in the back of my mind I was still thinking about how terrible of a blow the Big East Conference just took. Basketball is in my DNA so this kind of thing has an impact on me. But even after hearing that Syracuse and Pitt were leaving, I thought to myself, "It is what it is, but UConn better not pull that same stunt."

Then, yesterday afternoon, news broke that UConn was "actively pursuing ACC membership." My day was never the same. I couldn't believe the news. UConn is the unquestioned flagship program of the Big East and the only school in the country with three National Championships since 1999. As I type this, the ACC has not yet admitted UConn but they would be fools not to so I'll continue under the assumption that it will happen. For all intents and purposes, this is the end of the Big East Conference and I am giving the eulogy.

I have always felt as if the ACC was the most glamorous (not the best) conference in the land. That has to do with the fact that college basketball's darling, Duke, and Michael Jordan's alma mater, North Carolina, are a part of the conference. Sprinkle in the fact that Dick Vitale is madly in love with Duke and the conference as a whole, and it makes it so that the country has a love affair with the ACC. So if Syracuse, Pitt and UConn had to go somewhere else, I guess it makes sense for them to go there. And this isn't the first time, of course, that schools have left the Big East for the ACC. In 2004, Virginia Tech and Miami did the same thing, followed by Boston College a year later. But I thought those were just isolated incidents.

Over the course of the past year or so, we have seen a seismic shift in the landscape of intercollegiate conferences. The PAC-10 is now the PAC-12. Big 12 teams are now part of the Big 10. But those were primarily done because of football programs. The PAC-12, Big 12 and Big 10 are football conferences in my opinion. The Big East and ACC are definitely basketball conferences and we haven't seen a shake-up quite like this in a very long time, if ever.

Because of the national love affair for the ACC, it made me love the Big East even more and despise the ACC to a degree. However, now I have no choice but to embrace it. Taking my allegiance to UConn out of the picture, I can certainly understand why they are seeking entrance. After Syracuse and Pitt left, they had to make sure that the athletic program was "keeping up with the Jones' ", so to speak. No to mention the fact that the ACC has better football programs than the Big East anyways.

There have been rumors for quite some time that the NCAA was moving towards forming a handful of "superconferences." This is proof. Even with Georgetown, Villanova and St. John's left as the best programs in the Big East, the league can't survive. It was almost as if UConn said to the rest, "save yourselves while you can." I'm not sure how much longer the Big East can or will hold on, as Rutgers is rumored to be next up to seek admission to the ACC.

Timing of these schools officially joining the ACC has not been determined as of yet, but The Big East tournament just became almost insignificant in my eyes and the ACC is now clearly the best conference. But I get it. It's all about money. Everything is about money. I just wish there was a better way for those involved to get paid without destroying the fabric of college basketball.

Can you believe it has been almost a year and a half since we’ve seen Floyd Mayweather in the ring? It was actually 16 months ago when he took it to Shane Mosley, extending his spotless record to 41 wins versus zero losses (25 knockouts). He hopes to elevate that to 42 wins tomorrow night as he takes on a very worthy opponent in Victor Ortiz, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

 
While many, including myself, expect Floyd to prevail victorious, I do however, expect him to break a sweat in this bout. Ortiz (29-2-2 with 22 knockouts) is no slouch, and gained much respect on the heels of his win by unanimous decision in April over then WBC welterweight champ, Andre Berto. Ortiz is young and Floyd hasn’t faced anyone as youthful and powerful as Ortiz in quite some time. In fact, Ortiz (24) is 10 years Floyd’s junior. However Mayweather is a young 34 because he hasn’t really taken much of beating throughout his career. Because of that, he’s way more spry than the average 34 year-old fighter.

 As Floyd continues to remind us, he knows how to take a punch. His jabs are very quick and lethal. Accounts from those who have seen him work out extensively say that he’s just as quick as ever. As for Ortiz, if history is any indicator, he has shown that he isn’t immune from hitting the mat. During the Berto fight, he was dropped twice (but in his defense, he knocked Berto down twice as well). Floyd doesn’t always go for the big knockout punch, but he is a tactician who routinely makes calculated moves to wear out his opponent.

Because of his age, look for Ortiz to give Mayweather a good fight, but at the end of the day, Floyd is simply too talented for Ortiz. Many get caught up in the fact that Mayweather talks. A lot. This is true, he certainly does. Probably more so than any other current athlete. But he’s a 5’8” walking definition of “I talk a lot, but I can back it up.” And it’s hard to argue with that.

 
I don’t see any knockdowns in this fight and predict Floyd will prevail by way of unanimous decision. Since Ortiz has fought much more recently than Floyd has, perhaps he’ll be a bit more crisp early on than Mayweather. However, once Floyd settles in, he’ll be able to coast.

 
This is probably the best challenger for Floyd, not named Manny Pacquiao. We have all been anticipating that fight for years. Many feel that if Floyd wins, that would compel him to fight Pacquiao next. I would strongly advise you not to hold your breath. If that fight were to take place, I believe it would’ve happened already. However, if by some miracle, that fight were to take place, expect Pay-Per-View numbers that would never be approached.

Check out some pre-fight ish talking...

LeBron James will forever be a mysterious case. When he decided to join Wade and Bosh in South Beach, I figured the folks in Cleveland wouldn’t be too fond of that. Little did I know that the rest of the sports world, let alone the basketball community, would despise him for that decision as well.

The Heat were showered with boos whenever they stepped foot into any arena located outside of Miami. Then at the conclusion of the regular season, we found out that LeBron led the NBA in jersey sales. That was when I really became confused. I realize that by him changing both teams and jersey number meant that there was new NBA merchandise for fans to purchase, but he was still the hated villain. That led me to believe that he wasn’t as hated as I initially thought.

Recently, there was a poll conducted by Ipsos that ranked the popularity of celebrities, not just athletes, and garnered some interesting results. It was an interesting study and you’ll be happy to know that Betty White is America’s favorite, most trusted personality and the most prone to driving brand purchase. Rounding out the top ten were Denzel Washington, Sandra Bullock, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Kate Middleton, Will Smith and Johnny Depp. With the exception of Middleton, I guess it’s hard to argue with that list because everyone else actually earned their spot. She simply married someone.

However, the same study determined who were Americas least popular public figures as well. Leading the way was Paris Hilton. No argument here. Rounding the top (or bottom) ten, following Hilton, are Charlie “winning” Sheen, Britney Spears, Kanye West, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, Kim Kardashian, Mel Gibson, Donald Trump and number ten is our very own LeBron James. Twenty-nine percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of LeBron.

I find that amazing and it completely contradicts the jersey sale statistic. You mean to tell me that by him heading to the Heat (and I get it, “it’s not the fact that he left, it’s how he left.” No need to down that road again) would put him in the same category as a serial adulterer, a couple of airheads, and someone who made disparaging remarks about a certain sect of people. Fascinating.

Time really does heal all wounds and I’m willing to bet that in a few years if Ipsos conducts this same poll, there’s no way his name appears near the bottom. Let’s not forget, his decision ultimately did much more good than harm.

About an hour ago, ESPN published an article on their website entitled "What if Michael Vick Were White?" I don't have a problem with the title. In fact, I often encourage such topics based on race because I think they can be healthy. The interesting thing is that both in the article online, and in the magazine that will hit newsstands on September 5, there is a picture of Michael Vick with his face airbrushed to appear as if he's white. I'm not sure why that was necessary. They actually took down that pic, then put it back up about a half hour later.

My bigger issue is with the content of the article. In fairness, it was written by Toure, who is widely known as hip-hop journalist. A black hip-hop journalist. I'm not sure when he crossed over into sports. But the overarching them of his article is that white is right. Always. Saying that if Vick's parents were white, he'd be a different person. I think that's a very naive stance to take from someone who is so credible. I think the entire thing is a reach because what's Ben Roethlisberger's excuse? Take a read of the article for yourself and let me know what you think:

This story appears in the Sept. 5 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

WHEN MICHAEL VICK PLAYS, I see streetball. I don't just mean that sort of football where you have to count to four-Mississippi before you can rush the quarterback, nearly everything breaks down and it's all great fun. I also mean street basketball. Vick's style reminds me of Allen Iverson -- the speed, the court sense, the sharp cuts, the dekes, the swag. In those breathtaking moments when the Eagles QB abandons the pocket and takes off, it feels as if he's thumbing his nose at the whole regimented, militaristic ethos of the game.

All of that is why, to me, Vick seems to have a deeply African-American approach to the game. I'm not saying that a black QB who stands in the pocket ain't playing black. I'm saying Vick's style is so badass, so artistic, so fluid, so flamboyant, so relentless -- so representative of black athletic style -- that if there were a stat for swagger points, Vick would be the No. 1 quarterback in the league by far.

Race is an undeniable and complex element of Vick's story, both because of his style as well as the rarity of black QBs in the NFL. A decade after he became the first black QB to be drafted No. 1 overall, about one in five of the league's passers is African-American, compared with two-thirds of all players. But after his arrest for dogfighting, so many people asked: Would a white football player have gotten nearly two years in prison for what Vick did to dogs?

This question makes me cringe. It is so facile, naive, shortsighted and flawed that it is meaningless. Whiteness comes with great advantages, but it's not a get-out-of-every-crime-free card. Killing dogs is a heinous crime that disgusts and frightens many Americans. I'm certain white privilege would not be enough to rescue a white NFL star caught killing dogs.

The problem with the "switch the subject's race to determine if it's racism" test runs much deeper than that. It fails to take into account that switching someone's race changes his entire existence. In making Vick white, you have him born to different parents. That alone sets his life trajectory in an entirely different direction. Thus when this hypothetical white Michael Vick ... wait, I can't even continue that sentence in good faith. I mean, who would this white Vick be? That person is unknowable. When you alter his race, it's like those Back to the Future movies where someone goes back in time, inadvertently changes one small thing about his parents' dating history and then the person starts to disappear. If Vick had been born to white parents, you wouldn't even be reading this right now. That Vick would have had radically different options in life compared with the Vick who grew up in the projects of Newport News, Va., where many young black men see sports as the only way out.

This is not to say there aren't insights to be gained from hypotheticals. One pertinent question: Would a white kid have been introduced to dogfighting at a young age and have it become normalized to the extent that he builds it into his life after he joins the NFL? It's possible, but it's far less likely because what made Vick stand out among dogfighters is less race than class. The deep pockets of an NFL star led to a kennel that was too big not to fail eventually. But if it did, though, would this white kid have been busted? Remember, it wasn't suspicion of dogfighting that started the investigation that put Vick in jail. It was that element that we've all seen hold back or bring down so many athletes from the hood -- the entourage. Vick's cousin Davon Boddie was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell in Hampton, Va. When police asked him for his address, he led them to the home where Bad Newz Kennels was located. After that, Vick never had a chance.

Here's another question: If Vick grew up with the paternal support that white kids are more likely to have (72 percent percent of black children are born to unwed mothers compared with 29 percent of white children), would he have been involved in dogfighting? I ask this not to look for an excuse but to explore the roots of his behavior. Vick's stunningly stupid moral breakdown with respect to dogs is certainly related to the culture of the world he grew up in, which he says fully embraced dogfighting. But it's also related to the household he grew up in.

Vick's father, Michael Boddie, was not a positive influence on him growing up. Boddie admitted to The Washington Post that he was a cocaine user and had been high and drunk around young Vick. He says he often prepared the family garage so Vick could have pit bull fights there. Boddie's account is disputed by a family friend, who says Vick's mother would not have allowed that. Either way, at some point in Vick's youth, his father became estranged from the family. This breakdown of Vick's paternal relationship is a pattern that's all too common among black men of his generation. Too many are left to define manhood on their own, so they gravitate toward the most charismatic and inspiring men in their world. Sometimes those men are gritty local sports coaches who teach them the value of hard work, but sometimes they're ghetto celebrities who are unsavory role models with bad habits.

Ultimately, there is no separating Vick from his circumstances: his race, parents, economics and opportunities. Alter any of those elements and everything about him and how the world sees him would be unrecognizable.

So let's look at him a different way. Let's see him as someone in the third act of the epic movie that is his life, leading a team that many expect to see in the Super Bowl. Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" is playing underneath because the humbled protagonist has finally overcome his personal demons and has begun living up to his athletic promise. And to those who believe we should judge a man by how he responds when dealing with the worst life has to offer -- with how he climbs after he hits rock bottom -- Michael Vick has become heroic.

And that has nothing to do with race.

Not every day you hear someone has dementia.

From Sportingnews.com

Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, an Alzheimer’s type disease, but will try to coach the Lady Vols this season.

An announcement is expected Tuesday, the report said. Former players have been called, and many are expected to be alongside Summitt during for the announcement.

After much anticipation, Capital Punishment finally took place this past Saturday evening in the Nation’s capital and I was in the building.

Although tip time wasn’t scheduled until 6:30, all media were asked to arrive by 3:30, presumably to lessen the chaos that would inevitably ensue. I arrived at Trinity University in Northwest DC right at 3:30 and walking up to the building, you could already see the line of people wrapping around the building. Three hours before the game!

Once inside, we were pointed to where media would be stationed for the game, so we camped out to get a good view. The stands were pretty empty at that point with no sign of any of the players in Capital Punishment yet.

On the court, however, were two teams at opposite ends of the floor warming up. It turned out that those were two local AAU teams that would serve as the undercard for the main event. Being the hoop head that I am, I was glued to the game although I personally wasn’t familiar with any of those high schoolers.

The game was very competitive and contained a bunch of clean, but hard fouls. There were also many dunks and missed dunks as well. The missed dunks were a result of these young ballers trying to throw it down even though there wasn’t enough room to do so. One player even tried to bounce it to himself on a fast break, so that he could catch it in the air and dunk it in. However, there was  defender right behind him who thwarted that attempt. The game actually ended in a tie at 77 apiece. Because the clocks would not stop at that juncture of the game, that’s how it ended.

But prior to the end of that game, the first Capital Punishment player made an appearance: Baby Shaq who is widely known from the And 1 Mixtape Tour. Soon thereafter, there was James Harden and DeMar DeRozan sitting courtside as well. I barely recognized Harden because his hat was so low, but the beard was a dead giveaway. Towards the end of the AAU game, John Wall made his way courtside as well and was immediately swarmed by people wanting to either take a picture of or with him. Oh yeah, groupies were in full effect; both male and female. Before you knew it, JaVale McGee was visible and so was Ty Lawson. But the party officially began when Kevin Durant showed up courtside in the closing minutes of the AAU game. He had a Beatle-like presence. He was swarmed even more than Wall was.

These guys were all in street clothes and the announcer eventually asked Drew League and Goodman League players to head to the locker room. As they were doing that, I was also able to see that Andre Miller, Rudy Gay and Delonte West were also in attendance.

By this time, the place was packed. I walked over to the window to get a glimpse of the line outside and there were still plenty of people out there. Apparently, many of them already had tickets to the game. I’d say at least 1,000 people never made it inside.

The teams emerged from the locker room for their layup lines. Even though he was now in uniform, KD came out with his trusty backpack on. I seriously thought he was going to warm up with it on, but that wasn’t the case. Starting lineups and the Star Spangled Banner later, it was showtime. Drew League won the opening tip and ball landed in Brandon Jennings’ hands who took on dribble down court before throwing a lob to JaVale McGee. Three seconds in and we had our first highlight. That was a precursor of things to come. Every time Durant got the ball early on, the crowd went crazy. He had a couple of dunks in the first quarter and caught a long alley-oop from John Wall.

Guys were playing defense, because no one wants to get embarrassed on that stage, but it wasn’t necessarily stifling defense as Goodman held a 40 – 34 lead after the first quarter. One interesting matchup was between Goodman’s Baby Shaq (the only non-NBA starter) and Drew’s Craig Smith. Both guys are solid with a low center of gravity, so whenever one got the ball, the crowd got loud, in anticipation of these two guys going at it.

James Harden was going hard at Durant, and the two even shoved each other a couple of times. Playfully of course considering they are co-workers in real life. John Wall had a couple of nice moves in the half court, getting by defenders. Following most of his buckets, he would run back on defense with his arms out giving a very MJ-esque shrug.

Another interesting battle was between DeMarcus Cousins (who was hilariously dubbed “bad attitude” by the announcer) and JaVale McGee. Early on, Cousins got the best of McGee, scoring a couple of buckets in a row to get the crowd going.

Goodman led for much of the game with their largest margin being 15. But in the fourth quarter, the game became very close. Brandon Jennings took over for the Drew (Who was without Nick Young. During the game, the announcer said Young boycotted the game because he wasn’t named Drew League MVP), connecting on several consecutive buckets and the Compton native even did a mini dance to “California Love” which was played after many Drew buckets, while at the free throw line.

The majority of the fourth quarter was very close and with 21.5 seconds remaining, Kevin Durant went to the line for two, making both, giving the Goodman the 135 – 134 lead. So with the shotclock now turned off, Drew had the ball with the chance to win. Brandon Jennings walked the ball up court and hit John Wall with a step-back before attempting a three that hit front iron. Drew’s James Harden grabbed the rebound with only a few seconds remaining, with Kevin Durant draped all over him. Harden tried pump-faking the taller KD to get him in the air, but he never budged. Harden then had no choice to but attempt the shot that was partially blocked by Durant. Ballgame. 135 – 134 Goodman. Durant and his 44 points were named MVP. Then it became groupie time.

Check out some game action:

I was in the building last night for Captial Punishment, Goodman vs. Drew League. Watch what JaVale McGee does to Gary Neal's shot here:

Tattoos. This all started because of tattoos. Terrelle Pryor accepting some free ink indirectly caused the implosion of Ohio State football in a matter of months. He was supposed to be suspended for the first five games of next season for those tats, but after everything hit the fan, causing Jim Tressel to resign, Pryor had no choice but to leave Columbus for the NFL. He probably was never going to play for the Buckeyes again anyway.

Since he decided to leave school after the NFL draft, he had to apply for the supplemental draft which is usually reserved for players whose "situation has changed" between January 15 (the deadline to declare for the NFL draft) and the actual draft itself. That would be the only way Pryor would be allowed into the NFL in advance of next year's draft.

After mulling it over for far too long (even postponing the supplemental draft because of indecisiveness) today, the NFL decided that Pryor was eligible for the supplemental draft. It took so long because they weren't sure if his "situation changed" enough to be eligible. However, he will be suspended for the first 5 games of the NFL season. He can't even practice. He can only go to meetings.

Goodell has some interesting things, but this takes the cake for me. How can he suspend a guy for what he did in college? That makes absolutely no sense to me and I think it's unjustifiable. What he did when he was at Ohio State was out of Goodell's jurisdiction. That's like getting arrested in China for shoplifting in South Africa. Doesn't make sense and is one of the weirdest things I have ever heard. I understand that Goodell wants to hold guys accountable. But he didn't violate any NFL rules. It's a reach to say the least.

So, Randy Moss retired a few days ago and completely caught the sports world by surprise. Moss is a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer and the owner of plenty of records. Most notably, he caught an NFL record 23 touchdowns in 2007 for the Patriots in his first year in New England. The only thing that will keep him from being a first ballot HOFer will be sportswriters who have a personal axe to grind.

I very vividly recall Moss' rookie season in Minnesota. It was one of the most memorable rookie seasons that I have ever seen in any sport. It moved me enough to purchase a purple Vikings #84 jersey following that campaign. But when he got to Oakland he became a forgotten man. People said he was washed up. A has been. But I knew it was just that he was on a garbage team.

Then he arrived in New England and the rest was history. Bill Belichick gets way too much credit for "straightening Randy Moss out." He didn't do anything aside bring him to a team with a legit QB. That's it (Glad we got that out of the way).

But I have a tough time believing that he's done. He's only 34 years old and I'd say he has 4 solid years of effective football left in those legs. I think he retired primarily because he didn't want to run the risk of the season starting without being given a serious offer. That would diminish his legacy. Therefore, he decided to hang it up. So the only benefit of him retiring was to save face. I'd like to think we'll see him again.

But if he is done, how should we remember him? As the best deep threat ever and the second best receiver in history. He routinely outran defensive backs for long TDs. But he certainly had his limitations. He was deathly afraid of contact and displayed alligator arms when balls were thrown across the middle. Also, he was terrible at making defenders miss by way of a shake move. He simply didn't have one. He would just outrun defenders if he could.

What I don't understand is the argument that "he didn't get the most out of his talent." I'm not quite sure why pundits harp on that, or what that even means. Did he take plays off when the play wasn't drawn up for him? Absolutely. Not a game went by where he didn't. But when his number was called, he certainly went all out for the most part.

But again, I think he'll be back so I'll stop eulogizing now.

Two days later, people are still talking about the alleged blown call at home plate in the Pirates/Braves game in the 19th inning by umpire Jerry Meals. Pirates fans are saying "what if we miss the playoffs by one game?"

Here's my thing... why are we assuming the Pirates were going to win the game if the runner was called out? The Pirates still could've lost the game. Everyone is calling for instant replay. But if you watch the replay (youtube has removed the video, so I couldn't include it) it's inconclusive so if they did review it, the call would've stood because I'm not sure the runner was tagged and no angle clearly shows that he was tagged by the catcher. And watch the catcher's reaction again after his swipe tag. He doesn't exactly convince me that he tagged the runner. Everybody needs to relax. It was 1 regular season game in July. If the Pirates miss the playoffs by 1 game, they can examine the other 161 games on the schedule.