The Week That Was

Things are looking up for the moment in South Bend. Notre Dame is 4-1 heading into their bye week and have their best chance in years to beat USC when they visit in two weeks. The Irish survived by the skin of their teeth against Washington, defeating them in overtime 37-30. Watching the Huskies you could see what a difference head coach Steve Sarkisian has made. The Huskies now have an energetic coach, instead of a bumbling, in over their head coach. Irish QB Jimmy Clausen had a tremendous day, as did WR Golden Tate. The Notre Dame offense has been spectacular this year and is the reason the Irish are playing better. You can't ask for much more than Clausen has done this year. He is completing 67.6% of his passes, and has thrown 12 TDs against 2 INTs. The Notre Dame haters want to say he hasn't done it against any good defenses, but does he control that? He has done about all you can ask of your quarterback, and I would take him over almost every QB in college football besides Tim "God" Tebow. The defense still is struggling but made huge plays when needed to on Saturday, with three goal line stands. I will have much more on the USC game next week, but I can't wait for that one.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers have a huge game of their own this Thursday. They travel to take on #24 Missouri in a prime time, 9:00 PM game. The Huskers came so close to winning at Blacksburg, and now have another chance to get a signature win under coach Bo Pelini. Check back on Thursday when I preview this game in Cram Session.

The San Francisco 49ers continue to put the rest of the NFL on notice, as they obliterated the St. Louis Rams 35-0, to improve to 3-1 and more importantly, 3-0 in the NFC West. I couldn't be a bigger Patrick Willis or Mike Singletary fan right now.

The Miami Dolphins got their first win of the season, destroying the Buffalo Bills. I didn't think the Dolphins were as bad as their 0-3 record indicated and kept trying to remind myself that they started 0-2, and 2-4 last year, and still made the playoffs.

The Washington Redskins improved to 2-2 with an ugly come from behind win against the putrid, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The offense continues to struggle, with Jason Campbell throwing 3 INTs. Campbell did make 2 good throws, on his touchdown passes to TE Chris Cooley and WR Santana Moss. As most of you know I am no Campbell fan, and while I would like to see Todd Collins given a chance, I realize it probably won't happen. The Redskins face a winless team for the third straight week on Sunday, when they travel to Carolina. I am not liking their chances on the road, as I don't think the Panthers are as bad as their record indicates.

The NHL season began this past Thursday and their are high hopes for the Washington Capitals. I think the Capitals will win the Stanley Cup this season and they did nothing to dampen my confidence, looking awesome in wins over the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. I won't get into hockey much until after college basketball season but will be keeping my eye on the Caps.

Mercifully, the Major League Baseball season finally came to a close for the Baltimore Orioles. The O's finished in last place in the AL East and last place in the American League with a 64-98 record. It was a familiar story for Baltimore as they started off playing alright and then saw the wheels fall off in the second half of the season. I was happy that they avoided 100 losses, but I still think unfortunately we are a few years away from contending. The goal next year should be 82, win 82 games and have their first winning season since 1997.

Before the playoffs can begin the AL Central still has to be decided between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. Last year I did awful in my MLB playoff predictions but will try to do better this year.

American League

Division Series

#1 New York Yankees over #3 Minnesota Twins, 3-1
#4 Boston Red Sox over #2 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 3-1

American League Championship Series

#1 New York Yankees over #4 Boston Red Sox, 4-2

National League

Division Series

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers over #3 St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2
#2 Philadelphia Phillies over #4 Colorado Rockies, 3-2

National League Championship Series

#2 Philadelphia Phillies over #1 Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1

World Series

#1 New York Yankees over #2 Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1

As much as I hate to say it I am sticking with my preseason prediction of the New York Yankees as World Series champions. Hopefully, I have cursed them with this prediction.