Sports Roundtable:

1.  Who are your predictions for the 4 divisional series?

John Manuel- Tigers, Rangers, Cardinals and Brewers.  I think both the Yankees and Phillies will choke in the first round.  The Brew Crew is the team to beat in the postseason.  And the Rangers will bounce back versus the Rays.

Rob Yunich- Tigers in five, Rangers in five, Phillies in four and Brewers in five

Howard Ticker- Yankees, Rays, Phillies, Brewers

My Take- I’ll say the Tigers, Rangers, Phillies and Brewers

2. Now that we are part way through the season, who is your Heisman pick?

John- Andrew Luck is the clear choice and everyone is expecting him to win.  Its too early to say and would like to see how Russell Wilson does now that the Wisconsin schedule will get tougher.  NC State fans have to wondering what Tom O’Brien was thinking.

Rob- Sticking with my preseason pick, Marcus Lattimore.

Howard- Marcus Lattimore. Rooting for Russell Wilson

My Take- I think there are a number of big name QB’s and RB’s that would be excellent picks, but one name that hasn’t gotten mentioned is Robert Griffin III. Griffin leads the nation in QB rating, TD’s, and completion %, while he is 2nd in yards per attempt, behind only Russell Wilson. He runs as much if not more than Wilson, and really is having an incredible season. I know Baylor might not have the wins or profile, but he has been simply incredible.

3. What was the biggest MLB playoff disappointment this year? The Braves, Red Sox blowing the WC, or the Giants not even making the playoffs?

John- The Red Sox by far.  What a joke of a team.  All it means is that they will probably go out and sign Prince Fielder and CJ Wilson in the offseason though.  And most likely force the Yankees to get in the bidding also, screwing teams like the Nats and O’s.  Will be interesting in the future to find out the inside scoop on the Francona departure.  Maybe Boston looks at Joe Torre?

Rob- Red Sox — to dominate like they did for most of the season and then collapse in September (historically), that’s the definition of disappointment.

Howard- Red Sox blowing it. Giants offense killed them.

My Take- I’m going to go against the grain here and say the Giants missing the postseason entirely is the biggest disappointment. Look the Sox and Braves collapses were bad, but the Giants collapse was all throughout the season, despite playing in one of the easiest divisions in baseball. They finished 8 games out of first and 4 out of the wildcard, and really weren’t a real threat for the last month plus (though obviously any team could have come back.) On top of the disappointing season, the Giants traded away one of their top young pitching prospects to rent Carlos Beltran for the rest of the year.

4. Will their be an NBA season this year, and if so how many games?

John- 0 games is my prediction.  I think all this recent progress talk is BS.  There was always hope the NFL would work it out.  But I don’t see it with the NBA.  Too many players making silly guaranteed deals.  Can’t wait to be streaming video at work of Kobe games in the Italian league.

Rob- My gut says no — but if there is, it won’t be more than 50 games.

Howard- Probably not. Especially after this Dwayne Wade incident. 50 games at best. Or 32.

My Take- I say there will be, but it will be just a 40 game season, because it takes so long.

5. What is the biggest surprise team of the NFL season so far?

John-The Eagles sucking.  Actually not that surprised with that.  Just when I thought the last day of the baseball season was great, Sunday topped it.  Eagles blowing a big lead to the Niners followed by the Cardinals waxing Cliff Lee at night.  Not to mention busted rib Romo getting the Lions back into the game.  I think the 49ers actually are the surprise though, they should be 4-0.  Jim Harbaugh looks like the real deal so far.  The Dolphins blew that one.

Rob-  I’d have to say the Detroit Lions, who are 4-0 after scoring 31 points in the second half to beat the Cowboys… they’re for real and might even challenge the Packers for the NFC North.

Howard- Buffalo Bills

My Take- I’ll say the San Francisco 49ers. Yes there are a lot of good choices, but the 49ers have gotten off to a nice start. They could easily be 4-0 right now and that is fairly impressive. I thought this team would be lucky to win 5 games at the start of the season, but now they are a real threat to be in the playoffs.