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Hello everyone and welcome to today’s “The Stack” with me, Nathan Stacken. It’s the final “stack” of the week so it better be a good one. Let’s see what made today’s “stack”:

1. Multiple players from the “U” suspended indefinitely.

Big news out of college football where up to thirteen players from Miami (FL) are ineligible until they are reinstated by the NCAA. This includes QB Jacory Harris. This is not good news for Miami at all. Their season has gone down the drain even before it began. It will be a bad year for the Hurricanes, but with a possible death penalty cloud hanging over their heads, this season may be one of the last for Hurricanes football.

2. Thursday night NFL preseason action.

Three games were on the schedule Thursday night. We begin first with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns. The Eagles won 24-14 and Michael Vick looked decent. He threw an interception that was called back because of roughing the passer though I believe the refs missed that one. Colt McCoy didn’t impress too much, but without a lot of his supporting cast healthy, it’s really hard to be impressive. He’ll be fine in the regular season as will the Brows.

In Cincinnati, in the battle of rookie quarterbacks Andy Dalton (Cin) and Cam Newton (Car), Dalton won as the Bengals beat the Panthers 24-13. Dalton threw for 130 yards and a touchdown. He looked far better and much more comfortable than in his previous two starts. Meanwhile Newton, didn’t look as great. Though he did have a rushing touchdown, he was only 6/19 for 75 yards. He did add 49 yards rushing. I know the Panthers really want him to start week one, but Jimmy Clauson may be the better option to start and if the Panthers get off to a slow start, put Cam in. He just isn’t ready yet and last night showed.

Finally in Baltimore, the Ravens were able to come away with a 34-31 victory over the Washington Redskins. All eyes are on the Redskins quarterback competition. Rex Grossman started the game and went 8-15 for 112 yard and one touchdown while John Beck, (presumably Mike Shanahan‘s favorite), went 6-10 for 110 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Grossman probably is the better option for the Redskins week one, but Shanahan really like Beck. Will he let his ego get in the way of making the decision that is best for the team? We’ve seen it happen before, like last year. We probably won’t know until a few days before the season opener. Redskinis fans though are already prepared for a long season.

No huddle: Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson went back to his Florida home yesterday with no deal in place. There has been talk about a trade perhaps, but the Titans are shutting that down. Either way, I expect it will be a while before we see Johnson set foot on the field in a Titans uniform…And Terrell Pryor and the Oakland Raiders agreed to a 4-year deal yesterday. Pryor needs to get on the field ASAP and learn the playbook. The Raiders are expecting him to contribute next year and with all that Pryor has gone through, he should be doing everything he can to get caught up and start playing.

2. LLWS action.

Japan is headed to the LLWS Final after defeating Venezuela 9-6. Yoshiki Suzuki homered twice for Japan who is back in the LLWS Final for the second consecutive year. The little league team from Tokyo won it all last year. They will take on California, who beat hometown favorite Pennsylvania 2-0 in fron of another packed house in an elimination game last night. Pennsylvania has gotten so much support from the fans. It would have been kind of cool to see the hometown team win with all the support they received. California will play Montana in the U.S. Final on Saturday. The winner will play Japan in the LLWS Final on Sunday at 3:00 ET on ABC.

3. MLB news and notes.

The New York Yankees are all about power and they showed it Thursday, knocking three grand slams out of the park in the Yankees 22-9 victory over the Oakland Athletics. They are the first team in baseball history to accomplish such a feat. Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson each belted one out of the park. It is an astonishing accomplishment and even if you don’t like the Yankees, you can’t help but be impressed with what they did…The Yankees stayed tied with the Boston Red Sox for first in the AL East as the Red Sox defeated the Texas Rangers 6-0. Both teams are going to make the playoffs. It’s just a matter of who will have to face the Texas Rangers, who I still believe will win the AL West…Finally the NL West lead for the Diamondbacks grew by a game after they won and the San Francisco Giants lost last night. Like the AL West and the AL East, the NL West could come down to the last weekend.

4. Hurricane Irene makes an impact on the sports world.

With Hurricane Irene, currently a category 3, will affect plenty of sporting events this weekend. The Boston Red Sox will play a doubleheader with the Oakland Athletics on Saturday to avoid having to play a game Sunday when the hurricane is expected to hit the New York and New England area. Likewise, the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies will play a doubleheader on Saturday. Smart move by MLB. Nobody needs to risk their safety to go see a baseball game. The New Haven Open will move its championship match up four hours from 5 ET to 1 ET on Saturday and even some MLS games are getting pushed back to avoid the weather. Also, the New York Giants and New York Jets pushed their game on Saturday up to 2 ET. Smart moves made by all sports. Hope everyone is safe.

That does it for me and for the week. Check back on Monday for another edition of “The Stack” and don’t forget that we will have our college football preview next Tuesday or Wednesday. Should be good. Until then, have a great day and a great weekend and we’ll see you back here on Monday.

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