State of Sports - October

October is a funny month in that it is the cross roads of virtually every major sport. You have Baseball playoffs, NCAA and pro football hit their stride, the NBA and NHL tipoff and drop the puck on new seasons, and you even have the President's Cup for golf fans. Here is my recap and predictions.

MLB playoffs -

In the AL - Yankees in 4 over the Tigers, Red Sox in 5 over the Angels, Yankees in 7 over the Red Sox

This seems to be the Yankees year. They will have to beat Verlander/Jackson at least once, but the Yanks have the superior pen and CC is ready to roll. The Red Sox own the Angels but this seems to be a bit of reversal this year with the Sox being banged up and the Angels putting it together. But I need to predict Yanks-Sox in 7 games. It needs to happen.

In the NL - The matchups are TBD by the Dodgers and Rockies series this weekend. Bottom line is this...the AL is winning the World Series as long as the Tigers don't make it. The Phils have no closer. The Dodgers have been treading water for months. The Rockies don't have AL caliber pitching. The Cardinals will make it interesting because they have the two horses and Pujols. But Holliday was junk in the AL and I don't just don't see them holding up against the mighty Yanks.

Prediction - Yanks over Cards in 6.

NCAA football - A month in and nobody is good. It seems to be a down year overall. I like Oklahoma to rebound. I like Florida to hold off LSU and Bama. I still think we are looking at a Oklahoma - Florida championship game. I don't want to say another word about PSU because 8-5 is more likely than 12-1.

NFL - A month into the season, the top three in the NFC are the Giants, Eagles, and Vikings. In the AFC, the Ravens, Colts, and the Jets have been the standouts thus far.

NBA - As the season starts, I find myself being able to get into a storyline here or a game there. I am very curious to see how the Celtics will come out of the gates. I think the Lakers take a step back. Artest is a clown. LeBron v. Boston in the East and Lakers v. Spurs in the West. I am kind of rooting for LeBron.

NHL - I am not a hockey hater, but I find myself grossly negligent in my knowledge of the sport. I followed the 1999 season and watched the playoffs when they were on ESPN, but I have watched one hockey game in the past 5 years. So my prediction is worthless...but it is Detroit and Pittsburgh for the 3rd time in a row.