The Sports Desk----THE RETURN!!

It's September, and you know what that means. Yep, sports up the wazoo!!

The "No Crying in Baseball!!" Department:

Baseball is winding down, which means by now the Brewers have been elimnated from contention (damn!), and the pennant races are heating up. Playoff-wise, I've decided to hitch my wagon to the Detroit Tigers; I hate the Twinkies, the White Sox won it last year, and the Cards will find a way to choke. Oh, yawn, it's the Yankees again. Who's leading the West?

Meanwhile, I cringed watching the highlights of the Marlins' no-hitter last night. Somewhere I swear I heard Tom Hanks scream "THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!!!" Unless you get hit in the nuts with a 90 MPH pitch.

"Foosball is the Devil!" Department

The NFL is here, and along with it hordes of drunken fantasy football-addicted folks. I'm rooting for my beloved Broncos all the way once more. It'll be fun seeing the surprise team, the shocking disappointing team, which big-name player tears his ACL, and the latest Viking scandal.

College wise, I can't wait to see the Big Ten race. Ohio State has a biig game with Texas that could shape the national championship for the remainder of the year. The Badgers don't play the Buckeyes (yay!) but aren't expected to contend for the title (boo!). I can't see Penn State having another successful year, but I could be wrong. Minnesota will hopefully suck.


"Green, Green, Green!" Department

The Chase for the Nextel Cup is almost here. Once the checkered flag flies at Richmond, we could have as many as eleven guys in the playoff. That would mean Kasey Kahne would need to have a helluva race, and that Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth do extremely poorly.

Predictions?

Johnson and Kenseth are in.

I'll say NASCAR breathes easier as Gordon and Junior both make it in.

As for who may miss the Chase, I'll go insanely far on a limb and say that Tony Stewart fails to make it in. We've already had a Chase without the two biggest names in NASCAR, so it'd be interesting seeing the Chase without the defending champion.


Next Monday, the Sports Desk will air in its usual time slot with the sport recaps. It'll be posted after the 9/11 tribute later that evening. Stay tuned, and enjoy the action!!