The Lineup: Friday, October 4

Author:
Mike Bebernes
Publish date:
Oct 4, 2013

Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Josh would probably prefer to be an Employedman right about now. Send any suggestions to SI.TheLineup@gmail.com. (Bold indicates a national broadcast. All times Eastern.)

Pregame Reads

The U.S. Open golf has its eyes set on usurping the Masters as the PGA's biggest tournament. Moving to a Fox broadcast is part of the plan, says Ron Sirak of Golf Digest.
Are high school sports bad for academics? Daniel Bowin and Collin Hitt of the Atlantic say the numbers suggest quite the opposite.
Much has been written about Peyton Manning lately. Little is a good as this piece by Brain Phillips of Grantland.

Starter

MLB Playoffs Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox, 3:00p.m. (TBS)

The Red Sox have taken a cue from their Bruin brethren and grown some serious beards this season. It's the sort of thing that will be pointed to as the thing that brought this team together if all goes well for Boston this postseason. Right now it just gives the opportunity for Chris Connelly to dig deep into his barrel of beard puns (Four in his opening sentence!)

Reserves

MLB Playoffs

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 1:00p.m. (MLB Network)

L.A. Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves, 6:00p.m. (TBS)

Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics, 9:30p.m. (TBS)

NHL

Ottawa Senators vs. Buffalo Sabres, 7:00p.m.

New York Islanders vs. New Jersey Devils, 7:00p.m.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 7:00p.m.

Calgary Flames vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, 7:00p.m.

L.A. Kings vs. Winnipeg Jets, 8:00p.m.

Nashville Predators vs. Colorado Avalanche, 9:00p.m.

Patrick Roy completely lost it during his debut as coach of the Avs. After one of his players received what he thought was a dirty hit, Roy flipped out on the opposing coach and took his anger out on the arena. The general consensus is that this sort of wildness is a positive trait. Hockey is great.

MLS

Chicago Fire vs. D.C. United, 8:00p.m. (NBC Sports)

Montreal Impact vs. Houston Dynamo, 8:30p.m.

Racing

Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals Qualifying, 4:15p.m. (ESPN3)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying, 5:00p.m. (ESPN2)

ARCA in Kansas City, 8:30p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

NCAA Basketball

Late Night in the Phog, 7:30p.m. (ESPN3)

The Kansas Jayhawks basketball teams kick off another season with their annual late-night party made up of skits, dance routines, and scrimmages by both men's and women's squads. It's basically just your standard high school pep rally on steroids. Check out the production values on the video from last years Phog-fest.

Cricket

CLT20 Semifinal: Rajasthan Royals vs. Chennai Super Kings, 10:20a.m. (ESPN3)

Canadian Football

Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Toronto Argonauts, 7:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. British Columbia Lions, 10:00p.m. (ESPN3)

High School Football

John Curtis (LA) vs. St. Augustine (LA), 8:00p.m. (ESPN2)

Booker T. Washington (FL) vs. Bishop Gorman (NV), 10:00p.m. (ESPNU)

College Football

BYU vs. Utah State, 8:00p.m. (CBS Sports)

Nevada vs. San Diego State, 9:00p.m. (ESPN)

Soccer

NCAA Men's: Duke vs. North Carolina, 7:00p.m. (ESPN3)

NCAA Women's: Missouri vs. Vanderbilt, 8:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Tennis

Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships: Semifinals, 11:00p.m. (ESPN3)

NCAA Women's Volleyball

Miami vs. Clemson, 7:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Jacksonville vs. Kennesaw State, 7:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Virginia Tech vs. Pittsburgh, 7:00p.m. (ESPN3)

USC Upstate vs. Lipscomb, 7:30p.m. (ESPN3)

Bellator MMA, 9:00p.m. (Spike)

Dallas Cowboys: Making the Team, 9:00p.m. (CMT)

I could spend my time giving you a synopsis of what's going to happen in this episode (OMG, am I going to make the team!?) but you wouldn't read it, and anyway, the best sales pitch for the show is contained in this GIF from the opening credits.