October is one of the two best times of the year for Sports.  Why?  Because many of the major sports all converge during this month.  The other great period is late March / early April — the NCAA March Madness, the play-off stretch drive for the NBA and NHL seasons, the start of the MLB season, the Masters, NASCAR, etc.

But, I think I love this time period right now the best — the MLB play-offs and World Series, the NFL season is in full gear as it enters its’ second month of action, the NCAA Football season is getting really good with great match-ups every weekend, the NHL season starts this weekend (DC fans are so excited about the Capitals this year), the NBA exhibition season has started and the regular season will tip off at the end of the month, the riveting and highly popular Ryder Cup matches were just staged (per TV ratings, the third most popular sports event in the world – only trailing the World Cup and the Olympics) and NASCAR is in its’ play-off stretch drive.

Today is the start of a fantastic one-month period for baseball fans … the division and league play-offs over the next couple of weeks – then the World Series.  It’s hard to predict who will it all this year.   There are a number of great match-ups this year.  It’s not wise to predict via the blog since you can’t erase what you wrote but here’s one person’s opinion.  Since I’m a strong proponent of the saying that pitching and defense wins championships, my predictions are that the Rays will defeat the Rangers, the Yankees will beat the Twins, the Phils will overpower the Reds and the Giants will defeat the Braves.   In the NL Championship Series, due to their dynamic and deep pitching, I’ll take the Phillies over the Giants (who also have a great pitching line-up but the Phils are much stronger offensively).   In the AL series, my heart says to pick the Rays over the Yanks, but my mind says to pick the Yanks to defeat the Rays (due to their superior offensive firepower — see what a $200 million plus payroll delivers)!   My prediction for the World Series Champion is the Phillies.  Their 1-2-3 pitching line-up of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels plus their hitting balance will overtake the Yankees (they have great offensive balance, too, but their starting pitching has been a bit suspect lately).

So, for Sports fans throughout the country, enjoy the next few weeks.  There’s great Sports action – across all major sports — for the next month.  This will help make our Sports courses we teach at Georgetown that much more lively as we discuss and dissect these wonderful sports events each and every week.  Enjoy.