The Wide World Of Sports

It's an interesting time to follow sports, whether professional or college ...

In baseball ...

* The Boston Red Sox wrote a somewhat predictable end to the fairy-tale saga of the Colorado Rockies. Colorado went on an astonishing winning streak just to get into the playoffs, then somehow got through the National League to qualify for the first World Series in its history. Yet the Red Sox went through the Rockies like a knife through soft butter, sweeping the series, 4-0.
* On the sidelines, the Los Angeles Dodgers apparently have wrapped up negotiations with former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre to fill their managerial vacancy. Since the Dodgers play in the same division as the Rockies, it ought to make next season even more intriguing.

In pro football ...

* Everyone's getting worked up about this weekend's clash between the unbeatens, New England and Indianapolis. It should be an entertaining game, featuring the two premier quarterbacks in the AFC, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. And the winner will have the edge in gaining home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs.
* The Colts-Patriots game is only the latest marquee battle. A few weeks ago, the showdown between the Patriots and Cowboys was the big story. And, in a few more weeks, the big showdown will be Dallas and Green Bay. Whoever emerges victorious, the Cowboys or the Packers, is likely to be favored to have home field through the NFC playoffs.
* But the NFL can be unpredictable -- and we're not quite to the midway point of the season. So keep watching!

In college football ...

* It's been interesting to watch most of the teams that were getting all the preseason hype get knocked from their respective perches -- starting with Michigan's early season home loss to lowly Appalachian State.
* For those who like to watch big-name battles, November always has plenty of those, and this weekend features one from the SEC (LSU vs. Alabama), one from the Big 12 (Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma), one from the ACC (Florida State vs. Boston College) and a couple from the Big Ten (Wisconsin vs. Ohio State and Michigan vs. Michigan State). They should provide plenty of memorable moments.
* But, last weekend, on a day when football fans' attention was supposed to be on Ohio State-Penn State, the play of the year, if not the decade (and possibly the century) was being witnessed in the form of Division III's Trinity's 15-lateral game-winning touchdown play against Millsaps.

After several years of working among the most grizzled sports writers you can imagine, I think it's safe for me to say that only the most hard-boiled sports writer would not feel his pulse quickening at the sight of that Trinity play.