Sports on Monday (Week 5) is all about the baseball playoffs.  It helps that none of my college football teams played last Saturday -- the first time in 40 years that Oklahoma, OK State, and Tulsa have all had an open date the same week.  Oh, and the Jets lost (again) to the darn Cowboys, in case you were wondering. I hate no football team quite as much as the Dallas Cowboys, partly because growing up in Tulsa they get shoved down your throat by the local media. Anyway, on to baseball.

Booby Prizes
Biggest Choke Job (NL): Houston Astros. Sweeping or winning two out of three at home against the lowly Brewers would have left Houston tied or in sole possession of the NL Central. Houston proceeded to lose the first two games of the series, letting the Cubs clinch the title and rendering their sole win in the series completely meaningless.
Biggest Choke Job (AL):Seattle Mariners. It would be easy to nominate the White Sox for blowing their last series against the Twins, but it's hard for me to call a team chokers when they are simply outplayed by a rival that takes the title. The Mariners, however, were 8 games up in the AL West at one point and faded out of even Wild Card contention by the middle of last week. Even more interesting, when reliever Jeff Nelson criticized Mariner management for failing to make a move before the trade deadline (the same nonaction that proceeded a drop out of playoff contention last year), he was summarily traded. To the Yankees. For Armando Benitez. Boy, I bet he's sorry.
Oh, Sooo Close Award: Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies. Helton came up for his final at bat of the season Sunday only hundredths of a point behind my boy Albert Pujols for the NL batting title -- a hit would have got him the crown. Helton was then INTENTIONALLY WALKED by Padres manager Bruce Boce (no I don't know how to spell it), costing him the chance to even swing the bat for the title. Tough break, Todd. But my boy Albert did lead the league virtually all year, so despite his late backslide, I'd say he deserves the crown.

PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS!
First Round
Marlins (NL Wild Card) v. Giants (NL West Champ) -- Ideal:Marlins Realistic:Giants
Braves (NL East Champ) v. Cubs (NL Central "Champ") -- Ideal:both teams forfeit -- OK fine, Cubs Realistic:Braves, but it may be close
Yankees (AL East Champ) v. Twins (AL Central Champ) -- Ideal: Twins Realistic:Yankees, duh.
Red Sox (AL Wild Card) v. Athletics (AL West Champ) -- Ideal:either/or; edge to Red Sox 'cause of the hex thing Realistic:Red Sox, barely

Second Round
NL Champ: Ideal:Marlins or Cubs Realistic:Giants
AL Champ: Ideal:Red Sox Realistic:Yankees

World Series
Ideal:Red Sox v. Cubs, Red Sox in 7 (Kill the Curse Series!)
Secondary Ideal:Marlins v. Athletics, A's in 6 (small markets rule!)
Realistic:Giants v. Yankees, Giants in 7, at least 1 extra inning game

So there you have it. With most of my favorite teams out of the playoffs, and most of my most hated (Braves, Cubs, Yankees, Giants) in and looking tough to beat, I chose to pick what teams would win in my Ideal world and what teams are going to win in Reality. Obviously I will be rooting for my Ideal teams, but I've come a long way from the days when I was seven and thought a team would win because of the colors of their uniforms or because my Dad rooted for them. As the playoffs progress, I'll be keeping score on whether my Ideal picks or Reality picks are more accurate. 'Til next week!

Sports on Monday Sports Person of the Week: Albert Pujols. Because his sensational year is going to result in no playoffs and a second place MVP finish to Bonds (darn it).