Ramblin' Man-10/15/10

Alright, we've had a little layoff between blogs here. My apologies to the fans. But during the hiatus, a new idea occurred to me:  at the end of every week (or Friday, in this case), why not tackle all of the burning issues of the week and sum them all up into one blog? That's not to say I won't continue to write regular features; I will. But several people have approached me about this idea, so hey let's do this. It is October, after all.

And isn't October the best sports month of the year? Think about it: the NFL season is in full swing, the NHL is in the embryonic period of its season, the NBA is right around the corner, and a little thing called "October Baseball". It really doesn't get much better than this if you care about sports.

In homage to the Allman Brothers song "Ramblin' Man", this space will basically be just me rambling, thinking out loud, thinking outside the box.  So without further ado, it's time to ramble.

-ALCS starts tonight, with the NLCS tomorrow. Even without the Red Sox in it, I have a good amount of interest. I did get 3 of my final 4, after all.  Would I rather accomplish that line in March? Of course. But it'll still be some great baseball as we head towards November.

-As much as I hate to say it, but the better Cliff Lee pitches against the Yankees, the more likely it is he joins them in the off-season. Don't think New York has forgotten about last October. Lee went 2-0 in the World Series against the Bombers as a member of the Phillies, compiling a 2.81 ERA while striking out 13 batters in 16 innings. Lee's headed for a big pay day, whether it's in the Bronx or not. I'd like to say the Sox have a chance, but with these recent Lackey and Beckett mega-deals, well, you know......Moving on.

-As far as the series itself goes, I'm picking the Rangers with my heart but the Yankees with my head. Sorry, the head prevails. This one goes to New York, 4-2. The Rangers could regret not starting Lee until Game 3. Do they really think they have a shot at re-signing Lee? May as well get as much as you can from him.

-The Giants-Phillies series is a match-up of  quite possibly the top two rotations in all of baseball. The Phillies rotation, led by Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, finished at or near the top of the National League in nearly every starting pitching category in the regular season. Their 73 wins from the rotation topped the NL, while the 1035 1/3 innings logged by the starters led all of baseball. Philadelphia's starters also walked only 239 batters, best in the NL. The Giants, meanwhile, boast two-time reining NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, who is complimented by Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez. If you make the case that the pitching will cancel out, this one comes down to the lineups, where the Phillies are leaps and bounds ahead of the Giants. So I'm sticking to my pick and going with the Phillies, where we'll get a rematch of the World Series for the first time since 1977-78, when the Yankees beat the Dodgers in consecutive seasons.

Roy Halladay put to rest any questions people had about his lack of post-season experience with a no-hitter in the NLDS vs. Atlanta

-It's entirely possible somebody's already come up with this nickname for LeBron, and if so I apologize, but isn't "Prince James" entirely fitting? I mean, wasn't he "King James" in Cleveland? Welp he's pretty clearly the prince to Dwayne Wade's king right now.

-Vikings-Cowboys this weekend? Prior to the season, this matchup was definitely in play for an NFC Championship preview. Now? It's an elimination game, and the winner isn't necessarily guaranteed to play into January either. How is this even possible? The amount of talent on these two teams is breathtaking. What it comes down to must be Wade Phillips and Brad Childress.

-The Bruins are back from their European Vacation, where they looked like a punching bag one game and a definite Cup contender the next. It's only a small sample, obviously, but if Tuukka Rask goes all Andrew Raycroft/Hannu Toivenen on us, reservations for Lord Stanley this spring are definitely on hold. At least they turned Dennis Wideman into something, as Nathan Horton definitely looks motivated playing for a real hockey market. The Bruins make their North American debut tomorrow against the Devils in New Jersey. And if you haven't seen the New Jersey-themed "South Park" from this past week, I recommend you stop reading this blog and do so immediately.

It's nice to have former Vezina winner Tim Thomas in the fold, but Tuukka Rask is the man for the job.

-Ben Roethlisberger returns to the gridiron this weekend. Quite the double standard by the Steelers. Santonio Holmes, an emerging receiver in this league, gets caught smoking weed? Exiled for a measly 4th round pick. Roethlisberger becomes involved in rape allegations for the second time? Sit out 4 games and come right on back.

-October 26 just can't come soon enough. Has their been an NBA season more anticipated than this one? With the possible exception of MJ's return from baseball for the 1995-96 season, I say no.