Jonathan Dehn
San Francisco Giants at Kansas City Royals – 10/21 at 8:00 PM ET on FOX
29 years later, Kansas City has returned to World Series play. There’s no word on the state of George Brett’s pants, but it’s safe to say that he’s on edge and will be for the duration. It’s once again the speed and mighty bullpen for the Royals looking to shut down the Giants and their sneaky dynasty. If the Giants win, it’s three titles in five seasons. Manager Bruce Bochy looks to cement his place in Cooperstown with another series win, bringing his common sense approach to playoff managing. I’m certainly hoping to be typing about this series next week, and to not be watching an ugly sweep occur after such a long break for both teams. With the Royals having to take a break after winning eight straight to earn their pennant, one hopes that their fate will be far different from the 2007 Colorado Rockies, who caught fire at the end of the season and then took a small vacation before being swept by the Boston Red Sox.
Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins – 10/22 at 8:00 PM ET on NBC Sports
I can confidently say this is my most anticipated hockey game of the week, as we have bragging rights for the state of Pennsylvania on the line. The Flyers, however, are in the back end of a back to back. The night before, they will be on the same network while visiting the Chicago Blackhawks. C’mon, NHL schedule czars, don’t schedule a Blackhawks and Penguins back to back for the Flyers. Still, I very much enjoy finding good hockey matchups to share with you week after week since NBC Sports seem to be enhancing their coverage.
NCAA Women’s Volleyball – Auburn at Alabama – 10/22 at 9:00 PM ET on ESPNU
Sure, both of these teams are out of the top 25 coming into this matchup. Still, it’s Auburn versus Alabama, and volleyball is certainly a satisfactory decider of campus superiority. Perhaps we’ll see a shocking conclusion to this match that would be in the same ballpark as The Iron Bowl from last football season.
San Diego Chargers (5-2) at Denver Broncos (5-1) – 10/23 at 8:25 PM ET on CBS
With the Kansas City Chiefs on the outside looking into the AFC West picture, San Diego and Denver are on short rest to battle for the division. San Diego comes into this game fresh off of a home loss to the Chiefs, while Denver is riding high following a thorough thrashing of San Francisco and Peyton setting his mark and inspiring all sorts of terrible t-shirts. It feels like Denver might be prone to a letdown game following such a performance, while San Diego has to keep pace.
NCAA Football – #3 Ole Miss at #24 LSU – 10/25 at 7:15 PM ET on ESPN
LSU finds their way back into the rankings just in time to welcome Ole Miss to Death Valley. Ole Miss still has to get through LSU and a home game against Auburn next week before their date with destiny, as they host current #1 Mississippi State at the end of November. Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace has performed well this season, but there are still lingering doubts about whether he has put his “Good Bo, Bad Bo” days behind him.
Barclay’s Premier League – Manchester United at Chelsea – 10/26 at 12:00 PM ET on NBC
Louis Van Gaal’s underachieving and still fragmented side head to Stamford Bridge to take on league leading Chelsea in a pivotal matchup involving two of the EPL’s traditional “Big Four”. Working in United’s favor could be their lack of cup competition in the midweek. Chelsea finds themselves busy in their Champion’s League group on Tuesday. United’s Van Gaal still believes that Chelsea can be caught. Privately, I’d like to think Mourinho laughs manically at such a thought and plots for a way to make Louis cry tears of despair on the visiting ground come Sunday.
Of note is that starting time of this game, as the EPL will be in direct competition with the NFL during the second half of this game. More interesting is that the NFL’s regular season game in London this week has an early starting time of 9:30 AM ET. Perhaps, in this case, the NFL has no plans to disrupt such a giant matchup in London with their more lackluster showing of the Detroit Lions vs. Atlanta Falcons at Wembley. I’d like to think that Wembley Stadium and Stamford Bridge being just less than five miles apart could have something to do with it, and running both events at similar times could result a traffic and public safety nightmare. Still, maybe Suh can suit up for United, lunge into a tackle and make Roy Keane proud!
Image: Getty
