MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / October 21, 2000

Thoughts to ponder while waiting out the player instructions prior to Game One of the World Series…I’m going out on a limb this year and picking New York to win the World Series.

Actually, I am going with the Yankees to win it in five because of three factors – experience, pitching and managing. The Yankees have won back-to-back championships and have played in the Fall Classic four times in the past five years. The Mets are playing in the Series for the first time since 1986and have won just three playoff series since.

The Mets might have NLCS MVP Mike Hampton, Bobby Jones, Al Leiter and Armando Benitez but the Yankees can answer with Orlando Hernandez, one of the best postseason pitchers in history, Denny Neagle, Any Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera.

And when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, who would you rather have on your bench – Joe Torre or Bobby Valentine? And while Big Apple baseball fans can be cheering, a Subway Series may not be the best thing for baseball. Most of the rest of the country probably willnot show much interest unless it goes to a sixth or seventh game. And twobig market teams with two of the biggest payrolls demonstrates the continued disparity in the sport, something that will come home to roost in the future.

It’s kind of a ho-hum weekend for many of the teams in the Top 25. Only twogames feature two-ranked teams. No. 7 Oregon hosts No. 21 Arizona in agame that will go a long ways to determining a Rose Bowl representative.

Ditto for No. 19 at No. 23 UCLA.There are a few good rivalry games on tap, however. No. 2 Virginia Techdefeated Syracuse, 62-0, last year, but has struggled in the Carrier Dome.

Virginia is one of only two teams to defeat No. 6 Florida State since theSeminoles entered the ACC.

LSU has had No. 13 Mississippi State’s number in recent years. The same canbe said for Michigan State against Michigan. No. 17 Purdue should have itshands full with Wisconsin.

No. 20 Notre Dame, which hasn’t won on an opponent’s home turf in almosttwo years, travels to always dangerous West Virginia. Minnesota has wononce in 31 years at Indiana but, hey, the Gophers hadn’t won at Ohio State in 50 years before upsetting the Buckeyes last week.

Outside the Top 25, two of the SEC’s disappointing teams, Alabama and Tennessee, look to get their seasons on track when they meet in Neyland Stadium. Tulane can take another step to becoming bowl eligible againstArmy.

Grambling and Jackson State square off in SWAC play. And NorthwesternState, ranked ninth in Division I-AA, hosts No. 15 McNeese State in the 50thmeeting between the two teams.

Where have all the big men gone? That is the question in the NBA’s Atlantic Division after the trade of Patrick Ewing from New York and the news that Miami’s Alonzo Mourning will miss the season.

Shaquille O’Neal may want to start making room for another MVP award and world championship ring.

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