The Weekend in Sports

Looking back at the NFL predictions I threw down in July, let me say that I think my Super Bowl prediction is still rather sound. My NFC Title Game pick, though, looks bad. Atlanta is probably the best team in the NFC, but Dallas is most certainly not a worthy #2 team.

Let's revisit the NFL picks:

AFC Championship Game:

Baltimore vs. Indianapolis NEW Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh

NFC Championship Game:

Atlanta vs. Dallas NEW Atlanta vs. Philadelphia

Super Bowl:

Atlanta vs. Baltimore NEW Atlanta vs. Baltimore

***

ESPN would've loved a Philadelphia-New York World Series. Now, they're stuck with a Texas-San Francisco World Series. Oddly enough, I'm more likely to watch now. I would not want another Phillies-Yankees series.

Prediction:

San Francisco has better pitching and defense than Texas. The Rangers have Cliff Lee, who will start game one. But as they say, defense wins championships.

Giants in six.

***

College Football is a mess. The #1 ranked team has fallen three straight weeks. Georgia lost four straight games, and then they won their last three conference games by an aggregate score of 128 to 45. Auburn is currently the number 1 team in the BCS. Oregon has the highest powered offense since teams learned they could throw the ball. Boise State is still ranked high.

So let's revisit our BCS bowl predictions:

BCS Bowl Games:

Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Wisconsin NEW Boise State vs. Wisconsin

Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. TCU NEW Alabama vs Michigan State

Fiesta Bowl: Texas vs. Boise State NEW Missouri vs. Pittsburgh

Orange Bowl: Virgina Tech vs. UConn NEW Virginia Tech vs. TCU

National Championship: Alabama vs. Ohio State NEW Oregon vs Auburn

***

Now the biggie: Formula 1.

The race today at Korea was excellent. It was chaotic. It was a Hermann Tilke track, but it was better than that. The normal Tilkedrom has long straights, a hairpin or two, several chicanes, and speed bumps wherever possible. This track has sections that seemingly fit all cars.

The points after todays race (won by Alonso, Hamilton 2nd, Mass 3rd, DNFs for both Red Bulls) have Alonso in the lead with Webber eleven points back and Hamilton twenty-one points back. Vettel is now twenty-five back, and Button is out. The top four drivers are separated by one victory with two races to go.

I'll state right now that Vettel is not in contention. The gap is too much to overcome, especially with Webber, who will likely drive like a man possessed these next two races. The Ferraris seem to be the best cars at the moment, but the next track, Interlagos, fits McLaren and Red Bull better than the Maranello marque.

Look for Hamilton and Webber to fight for the win in two weeks, making the title fight that much tighter at the top. The last race, Abu Dhabi, fits Red Bull better than any of the others. That means a likely Vettel or Webber win. If Webber takes both races then he obviously is the champ. But if Hamilton can steal a win, that makes things far more interesting.

I'm picking Webber for the title, just because I believe his bad luck is behind him. Ferrari has been riding too high as of late, and Interlagos has a tendency to rise up and bite a driver. Alonso has been here before, he knows how to defend a title. Hamilton knows how to track one down and he knows how to let one slip away. Webber hasn't been in this position in Formula 1. Should be an interesting November.