1. The MLB Playoffs are moving along with two games complete in both League Championship Series. The Kansas City Royals have yet to lose a playoff game and are up 2-0 on the Baltimore Orioles, while the St. Louis Cardinals evened the NLCS at 1-1 with the San Francisco Giants last night. Who wins each series and in how many games?
Spencer- Let me start by saying what a magical run for the Royals this postseason. In that Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics it looked like they were all but out, only to rally in the eighth, force extras, win the game and they just haven't looked back since. I hate picking a team because of destiny but every time I've picked against the Royals this postseason they've proven me wrong. Guess it's time for me to jump on the wagon. They're up 2-0, heading home for Games 3 and 4, they are unbeatable right now. I see the series returning back to Baltimore for a Game 5 at least, but Kansas City is in the driver's seat to advance to the World Series. As for the NLCS, after last night's dramatic walk-off home run by Kolten Wong, it feels like a series that is going seven games. I worry about St. Louis losing Yadier Molina to injury. He is such an important part of that team both offensively and defensively. They are a resilient bunch but I think the Giants have the pitching to beat them in a longer series. San Francisco in seven.
Ty-
I already picked the Royals to win the World Series so I'm just going to say that the Royals will beat the Orioles in 5 games and do it in Royals/close game fashion. The NLCS is way harder to pick to me. I think both teams have a reputation of overcoming adversity. I guess I have to go with the Giants because of the injury to Molina and I trust the Giants a little more only because it is an even year. Those are the years the Giants like to win.
MVP for the first month of the season? Can Russell Westbrook keep the Thunder afloat as the primary scorer?
Ty-
The Thunder cannot replace Kevin Durant but I think this might be great for some of the younger players to get their feet wet. Perry Jones will probably be the starter in place of Durant and I would imagine the offense will be centered around Westbrook and Reggie Jackson in the pick in roll. This whole offseason the Thunder have been implementing a new offensive system that looked to take the pressure off of Westbrook and Durant and spread the ball around. Durant being out might force them to have to play in this offense because now they are down a player who could usually create for others. This also could mean Reggie Jackson could start if they need more offense. In the case of Russell Westbrook. He said in an interview today that his role doesn't change with KD out. So this hopefully means that he facilitates the offense like he usually does. The hope would be that he turns into more of a Derek Rose during his MVP year. That year Rose was arguably the only real threat on offense and still got players involved. I think that Westbrook will put up monster numbers most of the time but definitely will have some bonehead decisions at certain points. I think the Thunder will have a winning record win KD gets back actually.
Spencer-
Obviously this is a big blow to the Thunder because minus maybe LeBron James you're not replacing Kevin Durant in your lineup with anyone. Still I think the Thunder would rather be missing him in the first month of the season rather than in March or April when playoff seeding is on the line. On top of that they still have a talented team that should win a good amount of the games without Durant. They may not have the best record in the West at the end of November or anything but they'll be fine. Then they'll get Durant back and quickly race back to the top of the standings. In terms of Westbrook he should thrive as the primary scorer, but he can't take this as an opportunity to jack unnecessary shots either. If anything he can use this time to spread the ball to other players like Reggie Jackson, Serge Ibaka and Jeremy Lamb to build up their confidence on the floor. One knock at the Thunder during last years playoffs was that Scott Brooks didn't trust his bench players enough to get it done. Getting them reps now could pay dividends later in the season. Nonetheless Westbrook will do fine in my mind, leading this team till Durant returns.
3. Another crazy weekend in College Football saw some more top teams go down. Mississippi State is now the number one team in the nation...are they for real?
Spencer-
The short answer is, yes I believe so. I don't understand how this team was unranked to start the season quite honestly. They have a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback in Dak Prescott, who's thrown for 1,478 yards, four touchdowns, has just four picks and on top of it all can run too. He's a great athlete and leader for this team. The offense is putting up on average 41 points per game and mix that with a defense that is allowing just 20 points per game and forces turnovers and you have a winning recipe. Now this doesn't mean they are the best team in college football, but they are definitely for real. You don't go from unranked to number one by mistake, beating top ranked teams like Texas A&M and Auburn along the way. The SEC isn't just three or four teams anymore.
Ty-
This team is as legit as they can be in the BCS. It might be a reflection of how they rank teams coming into the season but they have checked off all the boxes that they could and they deserve to be where they are. It is nice to see another Auburn come up in the SEC. The season is still pretty long so they have to not have any slip ups.
Ty-
Wouldn't it be crazy if the Cowboys go 3-7 to end the year? Maybe they are half way to that point? But honestly it doesn't seem like it. The team has played well in all fazes of the game. The only reason the Seahawks were even as close was because of the turnovers the Cowboys gave away. Now most Cowboys fans know that they tend to do this to start the season and usually stumble in the second half of the year. The difference this year is that they have taken the ball out of Romo's hands as much as they can. The only problem I think might happen is the possibility that Murray get's hurt because of the load he is handling for the first time in his career. If he keeps this up than the Cowboys could actually be in the title discussion.
Spencer-
I know Cowboys fans are all excited, rightfully so, that their team is 5-1 and playing great football right now, but I'm not sold just yet. The Cowboys deserve the praises and they have earned their record but late October and all of November is where we start to differentiate the pretenders and the contenders. I want to see how they perform against the other NFC East teams. I want to see if they can continue to pound the ball with Demarco Murray without him waring down or getting injured. I want to see if Tony Romo can keep playing mistake free football. In a month if Dallas is still at the top of the standings or in the mix, I'll admit they are a contender. Right now though I see them as a surprisingly good team. Contenders are built for the long haul of the season though, not six games so we'll see.
5. The NHL season got underway this past week, who do you like as the early season favorite to win the cup?
Spencer-
Ty-
To me it is hard to pick against Montreal. The team has started out the season with 3 straight road wins. Obviously a lot can happen in the season but the team is coming off of a 46 win and 100 point season and see the Canadiens improving on that. They are one of the most complete teams in the NHL so they should be in the running to hold up the Stanley Cup at the end of the year.
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