It’s October and big time sporting events are just getting started. It really can not get much better then this.

We have the always-exciting baseball playoffs, which this year seems to have more drama than an episode of the O.C. (By the way, the season premiere is on Nov. 7th.) The NFL is in full gear and getting me more excited with each passing week. College football is also getting bigger by the week as we now have the first BCS standings, and NBA preseason has begun. This is fantastic!

As I write this, the Red Sox have managed to somehow, some miraculous way force a game seven against the Yankees in the ALCS. I told my friend after game three, “If you are ever going to beat the Yankees, do it in the craziest way possible and come back from 0-3.” Go Sox! I can’t take another Yankee World Series.

Now although you’d be hard pressed to believe this, there is another series going on. I know, shocking isn’t it? But yes, the Astros and Cards are playing in the NLCS.

The ball must look like dollar signs to Carlos Beltran because with every ball he hits, his contract for next year gets larger and larger. The Cardinals have blown a 2-0 lead and now trail 3-2 thanks to a Jeff Kent blast in the bottom of the ninth, which won game five for the Astros. The Cards will most likely win game six meaning that Roger Clemens will be pitching for the Astros in game seven. If he pitches a gem like he did earlier in the series, then I say the heck with it, put him in the Hall of Fame right now.

In the NFL, the more things change, the more things stay the same. The Patriots are the greatest team ever. They may never lose again. Okay, they’ll lose again at some point, but come on, this team is unbelievable. They remind me of the A-Team. Bill Belichick is Hannibal on the sideline, Willie McGinest is B.A. Barakas (Mr. T), Brady is the crazy Murdock and the rest of the team is that guy whose name no one ever remembers. You never know how the Patriots will get it done, but they always do, and like Hannibal used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

In the insane offensive category, Daunte Culpepper has thrown 18 touchdowns in five games. That is not a misprint.

In a year of terrible fantasy numbers for anyone playing fantasy football, having Daunte Culpepper on your team has basically guaranteed you a spot in your league’s playoffs. He’s on pace to break not only NFL touchdown records but also records that I’ve set on my Madden games, and I really thought no one would ever beat my Kerry Collins 58 TDs. Writing this, I don’t know what’s more unbelievable – the fact that Daunte may throw that many TDs, or the fact that I know how many Kerry Collins threw in my Madden game. We’ll say the former rather than the latter and pretend I never mentioned this.

In college football, a couple of Universities are on a roll. Miami University made one heck of a comeback against ranked Louisville to remain undefeated. After being down 31-14, the Canes stormed back, thanks to their defense, their special teams and amazingly enough, their QB Brock Berlin. He did really well despite my belief that he is attempting to lose every game thrown for three TDs and has Miami now ranked second in the BCS poll.

The other university I speak of is, of course, the crazy Utes from the University of Utah. This team has held up to the early hype given to them and has now cracked the top ten. I’ve been waiting forever for some team from a small conference to screw up the BCS, and Utah may just be that team. Led by “Stormin’ Mormon” Alex Smith, Utah is not only a feel-good story, but a heck of a team, as well.

So after a week off, it’s time to get to my picks. Right now my record stands at 10, 5-1, 5-1. The one tie was the Tampa-Denver game a few weeks ago. As always, these are for entertainment use only.

Philly is only giving seven to the Browns whose defense is suspect at best, so the Birds should fly though them like they have been flying through every other team in the league. (Man, it hurts to write good things about the Eagles.)

I like Green Bay at home despite their 0-3 record at Lambeau. They could and should be able to handle Dallas. Plus, Green Bay can’t go 0-4 at Lambeau, can they?

For my pick of the week, it’s a tough one. All year I’ve gone with cautious optimism regarding the Giants. Historically, they are god-awful after a bye week. This week they are coming off of a bye week to play Detroit at home. Obviously, I must pick the Big Blue wrecking crew as my pick of the week. They’ve been playing great, and the possibility of 5-1 gives me goose bumps. Go Big Blue.

Bonus pick for homecoming week: Nova will beat Towson on Saturday.

My name is Chris DuPrau and I approve this article.