What 2 Watch (Oct. 28-30)
The Sports World is beginning to wind down with winter coming in as seasons begin to end and playoffs start. The World Series is wrapping up with only one game left in a thrilling series where any team can win. With game 7 in the World Series the Baseball season will finish up this weekend as the football world sees the end and the middle of seasons. The CIS will enter their last week for the RSEQ, CanWest, and AUS while the OUA enters their first playoff weekend with the quarterfinals. The CFL has only two weeks left until their playoffs start with both #1 spots still up for grabs and big games coming. The NCAA is in the middle of their season with BCS rankings out and the top 25 looking to stop the recent upsets that are changing the rankings. The NFL is also entering the middle part of their season with 7 weeks gone and the contenders and pretenders beginning to take shape. Meanwhile Hockey is still going strong in the beginning of their season with Hockey Night in Canada featuring the Crosby-less Pittsburgh Penguins and the usual Maple Leafs facing off. The Racing world will be on the track with a heavy heart but will still race as the Chase for the Sprint Cup continues at the Tums Fast Relief 500 and the Formula 1 season entering a brand new facility with the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix. There will also be another UFC after a week break with UFC 137 not the exact fight they originally planned but still a stacked card.
World Series: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Texas Rangers
The World Series has been very strange this year with terrible fielding and terrible starting pitching and the series has reached a game 7. After one of the best games in a long time the Rangers lost the lead 5 times while the Cardinals continued to come back. The game went to the 11th inning where David Freese hit a walk off HR to force a game 7. Game 7 will be all out as both teams will hold nothing back to win. John Carpenter will most likely make the start for the Cards while the Rangers could put up Matt Harrison. The Rangers will try to stop a collapse and win their first World Series while the Cardinals will try to add to their legend status and win another World Series to reduce the lead of the Yankees in World Series titles.
When: Friday October 28th
Time: 8:05 pm
Channel: Sportsnet
NCAA Football: #19 Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Illinois Fighting Illini
The Nittany Lions are not really in National Championship picture and neither are the Fighting Illini. That is not what makes this game something to watch however as it will be all about the only coach that many have ever seen in the Penn State Blue. Coach Joe Paterno has been a coach at Penn State since 1950 when he was hired as an assistant. In 1966 he became the head coach and began his amazing coaching career. Currently Paterno tied former Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson last week for the most wins in NCAA Division-I with 408. This game against the Fighting Illini could be his 409th win in his long career that would put him alone at the top of the all-time wins list. Illini would prefer not to enter the record books and have shown an ability to win this year as they were on their way up the rankings until last week with a loss to Purdue. All eyes will be on Paterno as everyone looks to see if he will get his 409th win and enter the record books again.
When: Saturday October 29th
Time: 12:00 pm
Channel: ABC
University Rush: #8 Queen’s Golden Gaels vs. Laurier Golden Hawks
As the rest of the CIS plays their last week of the regular season the OUA will enter their first week of playoffs. The first semi-final will feature the now ranked Queen’s Golden Gaels who are 2009 Vanier Cup Champions and the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Gaels are coming off of a huge 37-0 win against the top ranked Western Mustangs who were undefeated and ranked #1 in Canada before the game but Queen’s showed their potential against their bitter rivals. Meanwhile the Laurier Golden Hawks just got in the playoffs with a 15-10 win over the Guelph Gryphons that put them in the 8th and final spot. Both of these teams will try to take their first step towards the Yates Cup and a first step towards the Vanier Cup.
When: Saturday October 29th
Time: 1:00 pm
Channel: The Score
UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz
The third fight scheduled for UFC 137 seems to be good to go with the welterweight title taken off the card in exchange for another welterweight fight. Nick Diaz will take on his hero in BJ Penn as Diaz found his way back to the main event after losing his title shot. Meanwhile BJ Penn will hold a familiar main event spot as he tries to get back into title contention with one more run before a possible retirement. Both fighters are extremely polarizing and will see their share of boos and their share of cheers when coming in to the octagon but only one will come out on top and possibly earn a top contender spot for the welterweight title. Meanwhile the heavyweights will be the prelude as Cheick Kongo will take on Matt Mitrione and Mirko VCro Cop will take on Roy Nelson in two fights that will see both fighters standing and trading.
When: Saturday October 29th
Time: 6:00 pm (Fbook Prelims)/8:00 pm (Live Prelims)/9:00 pm (Main Card)
Channel: Facebook/Sportsnet/Pay Per View
Hockey Night in Canada: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Hockey Night in Canada is a Canadian tradition and so is seeing the Toronto Maple Leafs featured on HNIC. This week the Leafs will take on the Crosby-less Pittsburgh Penguins who are still playing very well. The Leafs have come out to a good start this season behind the leading scorer in Phil Kessel and the performance of their young Goalie. This young Goalie has been out of the lineup since last Saturday as James Reimer suffered an “upper-body” injury against the Canadiens. Reimer may make his return this Saturday against the Pens who will be looking to continue their strong performance. The Pens are led by James Neal and Jordan Staal who both have 9 points and will try to continue this against the Leafs.
When: Saturday October 29th
Time: 7:00 pm
Channel: CBC
CFL Football: B.C. Lions vs. Edmonton Eskimos
There is definitely no love lost between these two teams especially after their last game that ended with a fight. In week 14 the Lions opened their newly renovated stadium against the Edmonton Eskimos and in the fourth quarter both teams got into it. The Lions players began pushing former BC and current Edmonton RB Jerome Messam which resulted in a bigger shoving match between both teams. Messam was ejected from the game after hitting Tad Kornegay in the side of the helmet. The Eskies and Leos will go back at it and this time the Western Conference title is on the line. If the Eskimos win the game they will eliminate the BC Lions from the top spot but if the Lions win they will take the top spot with one week left in the season. With both of these teams in no mood to give up anything this game will be interesting and should go down to the wire.
When: Saturday October 29th
Time: 10:00 pm
Channel: TSN
F1 Racing: Indian Grand Prix
The world of Motorsports has had a very rough couple of weeks after IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon and MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli both passed away. As the motorsport world grieved the loss of both of these racers Formula 1 was making plans for future expansion with a heavy heart. With plans to go to the U.S. next year and future plans for Russia Formula 1 will move into their newest digs for this year. The inaugural Indian Grand Prix will take place this weekend with a few spots left to figure out as Sebastian Vettel has already taken home the Drivers Championship. With Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, and Mark Webber all looking to take the second spot there is still plenty to race for. The new track will also take a bit of getting used to as nobody has driven it yet and there will be plenty of interesting times with drivers looking to learn the track.
When: Sunday October 29th
Time: 5:25 am
Channel: TSN
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Tums Fast Relief 500
With Carl Edwards leading the Chase the rest of the field will be looking to keep up although Edwards has done it uniquely. Edwards has only won one race all year but still leads the chase with multiple drivers trying to figure out how to make up ground. Matt Kenseth has been hanging around at the top of the rankings waiting to take over the top spot. Tony Stewart has continued a climb back to the top of the rankings after leading early in the Chase. Brad Keselowski has also been sitting at the top of the rankings for the past few weeks looking for his opportunity. With all of these drivers looking to take over the top spot from Carl Edwards they will move to Martinsville Speedway to take their chance.
When: Sunday October 30th
Time: 1:30 pm
Channel: TSN2
NFL Football: New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers and the Patriots have been the best two teams in the AFC over the past few years but they have not been very even against each other. The Patriots and Tom Brady have had their way with the Steelers going 6-1 with Tom Brady under centre. The Pats are not as strong as they used to be with one of the worst defences in the league but they do still have one of the best offences led by Brady. The Steelers have another good defence but an aging one along with their big QB Ben Roethlisberger leading the offence. The Steelers will try to take out their AFC foes this weekend by using their defensive weaknesses as an advantage. Both of these AFC powers may be on their way down but they have plenty of fight left as both will be looking to make some noise in the AFC.
When: Sunday October 30th
Time: 4:15 pm
Channel: CBS/Sportsnet Ontario
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