Make sure to vote for Mountain C on MyPlymouth with the ski package

This week's column is going to be a little bit different since I feel like there is a lot of stuff to cover due to last week's non-issue. Anyway, how about that World Series and Monday night's football game with the San Diego Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs? There is a lot of stuff to go over, so away I go!

The St. Louis Cardinals won their 11^th World Series title a week ago by defeating the Texas Rangers, 6-2, in seven games. St. Louis, which trailed the Atlanta Braves by 10 and a half games the last week of August, are arguably the most improbable team to ever win the World Series. Despite facing adversity that seemed insurmountable, this team came back to not only make the playoffs, but go all  the way. The journey in the World Series wasn't easy, though, as the Cards were one strike away two times in game 6 against the Rangers. It is something for a team to be able to tie a game up after being down to one strike, but to do that twice within one game, and to have that moment propel the team to win the World Series is something else. David Freese, who was unknown for the majority of the regular season, was named World Series MVP after having clutch hits throughout the whole entire post-season. Freese, who had an MLB playoff record 21 RBIs in the post-season, became only the second Cardinal to have a game-winning home run (in extra innings) in the playoffs, with the other player being Jim Edmonds (which is ironic because Freese was traded for Edmonds in 2008). The shape of the Cardinals is going to be different next year, as manager Tony La Russa retired (after being the manager of the team since 1996), and Albert Pujols is going to be a free agent. Possible replacements for La Russa include former Red Sox skipper Terry Francona, but Pujols isn't going to be back with the birds, as I think he will end up going to Chicago and play for the Cubs.

As far as the NFL world goes, it was nice to finally see a good Sunday/Monday night game this past week between the Chargers and Chiefs. Both teams needed the win to help state their case in the confusing NFC West, and the Chiefs ultimately pulled out the overtime win. These two teams, along with the Oakland Raiders, are tied for first in that division, but are going in completely different directions. I still believe that the Chargers will win this division despite being extremely inconsistent. The Patriots of New England lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, but there should be no reason for concern in Foxboro. Kevin Faulk played in his first game, and I think he is crucial for that offense to continue to role. Faulk is able to run the ball quite well, and provides Tom Brady with another check-down receiver who can score any time that he touches the ball. This weekend is going to be a big weekend in the AFC East, because the Pats play the 5-2 Giants while the Jets (4-3) travel to Buffalo to face the Bills (5-2) with what figures to shape the division title greatly. The last thing I have to say with the NFL is that the AFC North is an extremely interesting division. The Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals are 5-2 while the Steelers go into their bye with a 6-2 record. While all three of these teams won't make the playoffs, it should be interesting they revolve around their respective quarterbacks for the rest of the season (Andy Dalton on the Bengals being the young hot-shot, Ben Roethlisberger trying to solidify his status as an elite QB, and Joe Flacco attempting to show that the defense will not carry the whole team). This is a battle down the stretch that will be fun to watch.

College football features a heck of a match-up tomorrow, as #1 LSU travels to #2 Alabama in what features two SEC giants. Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson will try to show that they are the best team in all of college football for the Tigers, while the Crimson Tide have Heisman candidate Trent Richardson in the backfield to try to wear down LSU's defense. Both teams haven't had easy schedules thus far, as LSU has played five opponents who were ranked when they played them (including beating Auburn by 35 two weeks ago), while 'Bama has beaten three ranked teams this year. My feeling is that LSU will ultimately win this game, but Alabama will keep it close for the majority of the game so 28-17 Tigers. This isn't the only top-10 match-up, as the South Carolina Gamecocks travel down South to face the Arkansas Razorbacks. Arkansas has only lost to Alabama so far, while the Gamecocks' only loss was to the Auburn Tigers. With that said, watch for Tyler Wilson have a big game for the Razorbacks, and propel them to a 31-14 win to potentially put them into the top 5 in the polls.

In the NBA and NHL worlds, the NBA is still locked out, and Commissioner David Stern canceled games through November 30th. Stern also added that there is "no chance" that all 82 games for each team will be played this year. With that said, talks between the owners and the players appear to very slowly come together. Both sides have met numerous times over the past month, with hopes of obviously coming to an agreement. The biggest issue between the two sides is revenue share, as the players want 52% of the share, while the owners want it to be an even 50/50 split. The outlook on the season seems faint, but there is still a slight chance that basketball will be played this winter. For the record, I will continue the top 7 list next week. As far as the NHL goes, the Pittsburgh Penguins lead the Eastern conference so far, while the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins round out the bottom of the East with 6 points as of Tuesday. The B's need to start getting their act together before there is too much of a deficit to overcome by February. Despite Pittsburgh's best player in Sidney Crosby not playing a game yet this year, the Penguins have shown the NHL world that they are still a team to be reckoned with, James Neal leading the offense with 10 goals so far. Marc-Andre Fleury has also been a stonewall in goal so far for the Penguins, allowing only 1.86 goals per game, and saving 93% of the shots fired at him. When and if Crosby comes back, the Penguins should be the hands-on favorite to win the Eastern conference (yes I know, its only the beginning of November). 

In other irrelevant (though I find interesting) sports news:

-Nice to see the Women's volleyball team at Plymouth capture the #1 seed in the LEC tournament. This team is for real and will do some damage this year in the postseason.

-The Indianapolis Colts have lost eight games so far this year. To put this in perspective, before this year, the Colts lost their previous eighth game Week 8…. In 2008.   

-Carolina Panthers' wide receiver Steve Smith has had an amazing season, having 918 yards receiving yards thus far. This is already more yards then Smith produced last year.

-Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady are the quarterbacks getting the most recognition this year, but Drew Brees currently leads the NFL in passing yards.

-C.C. Sabathia resigning with the New York Yankees is great for both sides. Sabathia gets a hell of a lot of money, and the Yanks get their ace in the starting rotation back.

-The Denver Broncos need to stick with Tim Tebow. You don't waste a 1st round pick on a player based on only five starts.

-Jose Reyes would be best fit for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

-Nice to see Kevin Durant out and about with the lockout. Durant participated in a pick-up basketball game at Rucker Park in New York City a few weeks ago and played in a flag football game at Oklahoma State on Monday because he wanted to stretch his legs.

-Sports quote of the week- A&E editor Ben King to a San Diego Chargers fan that was a manager at the hotel we stayed at in Orlando- "Sorry about Ryan Leaf, man".

-My pick to win the NASCAR race at Texas is Denny Hamlin. Since the chase started, Hamlin has improved his finish in each race.

-Best NFL game of the upcoming week? The Bills facing the Jets is a great one, but I am going to go with the Chicago Bears traveling to Philly to face the Eagles on Monday night.

Non-sports information of the week

-I will reintegrate it again, Mountain C should be the mountain that is picked for the ski package.

-The snowstorm that hit the area last weekend was something else. My fellow meteorologists at Plymouth probably were going crazy over it.

-I wonder if Dice will ever find me (unless you went to the conference in Florida, you won't get this)

‘Till next week I'm outta here……..