It was a rough weekend for area football teams. The Gosnell Pirates suffered their first loss of the season up in Pocahontas, and the Blytheville Chickasaws were shut out by No. 1 Batesville on the road.
Pocahontas snapped the Pirates' 11-game 3-4A winning streak dating back to 2012, but Gosnell still has an outside shot at sharing the conference championship. They'll need some help from their week 8 foe, Highland. The Rebels host the Redskins this Friday. A Highland win could land three 1-loss teams at the end of the year, assuming the Pirates win their last two and Highland and Pocahontas win their final games. If that happens, I think NASA will be called in to figure out the point system on how to determine the No. 1 seed out of the conference. If the Redskins win, however, the Pirates will be in the driver's seat for the 2 seed. Either way, there is nothing to be ashamed of for Gosnell. For the second week in a row, they were in a tough game between two very good teams, and they just ended up on the short end of the stick this time.
Blytheville basically needs to win out if they want to make the postseason. Nettleton defeated Forrest City last week. That means if the Chicks win Friday against Paragould and the Mustangs lose to Wynne, both teams will be 4-3 on the final night of the season. It seems like every year, that final game against Forrest City will determine one school's fate. Friday night is by no means a given for the Chickasaws. The Rams have won the past two meetings against Blytheville, so I'm sure coach Fisher isn't even thinking of "what if" playoff scenario's at this point.
The first NCAA Football playoff ratings come out Tuesday night, and this should be interesting after undefeated Ole Miss dropped its first game of the year to LSU Saturday night. As many have predicted, many of the SEC teams may just cannibalize themselves right out of contention. One Mississippi team down and one to go. I'm going out on a limb in the spirit of snapping streaks: Arkansas will beat Mississippi State this week. Law of averages says the Hogs should win at some point, and why not Saturday to just mess things up at the top of the ranking even more?
Fantasy Football did just what the name suggests and helped me deny reality this past Sunday. My fantasy team, Chico's Bail Bonds, picked up our first two-game winning streak of the season, which helped as I watched, through the miracle of live Internet updates, my beloved Bears get routed by the New England Patriots. Matt Forte may not have brought the Bears a win but he did give me over 40 points, and while Rob Gronkowski was catching three of Tom Brady's five touchdowns against the Bears, it did give me another 40 points as I avenged my week one loss to my brother-in-law, Cutler's O-Lines.
The World Series has taken on a more somber tone after the death of young Cardinal outfielder, Oscar Taveras. That's three Cardinal players that have died since 2002 (Darryl Kile in 2002 and Josh Hancock in 2007). I've learned that the Cardinal fan base is not only loyal but a very close-knit group. The team is like an extended member of the family and Taveras, who at 22 was just scratching the surface of what he could accomplish, will be missed greatly by St. Louis and the rest of the baseball world that only got to see his tremendous talent for a short while.
afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com @CN_AaronF