The NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies will host the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Game One of the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday. The Phillies defeated the Wild Card-winning Milwaukee Brewers in four games in the divisional round, while the Dodgers ousted the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs with a three-game sweep to reach the NLCS.
Derek Lowe will start Game One for Los Angeles, while Philadelphia counters with Cole Hamels. The Phillies and Dodgers split eight games during the regular season, with each pulling off a four-game sweep in their home ballpark. Philadelphia is in the NLCS for the first time since 1993. The Dodgers are making their first NLCS appearance since 1988. This will be the fourth time the Phillies and Dodgers have met in the postseason. Philadelphia beat the Dodgers in four games to win the best-of-five NLCS in 1983, while the Dodgers beat the Phillies in four games in both the 1977 and 1978 NLCS. The Phillies lone World Series win came in 1980, while the Dodgers' last championship occurred in 1988.
The American League Championship Series doesn't get underway until Friday when the Rays host the Red Sox in Game One at Tropicana Field. James Shields will start for Tampa Bay, while 2007 champ Boston counters with Daisuke Matsuzaka.
In high school sports: The girls softball district tournaments began to unfold in earnest yesterday with first-round action:
Class 3 District 5: Wright City 5, Lutheran St. Charles 0
St. Dominic 3, St. Charles West 2
Duchesne 3, St. Charles 0
Class 3 District 7: Owensville 4, St.Clair 2
Borgia 14, St. James 4
Class 4 District 3: Washington 5, Rolla 4
Eureka 6, Pacific 5
Class 4 District 8: Zumwalt East 8, Pattonville 2
Zumwalt South 5, Howell North 4
Class 4 District 9: Wentzville Holt 8, Zumwalt North 0
Zumwalt West 10, Hannibal 1
High school football teams in the Westplex are using this week to get ready for the start of their round-robin district tournaments next week. Kaspar Broadcasting will have two games for you tomorrow night.
On KWRE, undefeated Wentzville Timberland will host Warrenton. Timberland is #1 in the MoSports.com poll and #2 in the sportswriters / sportscasters Class 5 poll, and it needs a win to keep its hopes alive of winning the GAC North crown all to itself. Warrenton is 2-4 this season. On KFAV, Troy hosts its homecoming game against Francis Howell. The Trojans are 4-2 after a 4-game winning streak, and they have not won this many games in a season since 2003. They also want to stay a game behind Zumwalt West in the GAC South standings. Francis Howell has struggled to a 1-5 record. Both games begin at 7:00 tomorrow night, and the pre-game shows begin around 6:45 on KWRE and KFAV.
The Blues skate at the Scottrade Center this morning as they continue to prepare for their home opener. The Nashville Predators are the Blues' first opponent on their 2008 - 2009 schedule Friday night at 7:30. "USA Today" hockey writer Kevin Allen thinks the Blues' Patrik Berglund will take home the NHL's Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. Berglund has the chance to be the league's first Swedish Rookie of the Year winner since Daniel Alfredseon in 1996.
The 2008-09 NHL gets underway in earnest this evening. The campaign officially began last weekend with a pair of home-and-home sets in Europe. The New York Rangers took a pair of games from the Tampa Bay Lightning in Prague of the Czech Republic. The Rangers beat the Lightning 2-1 on both Saturday and Sunday. The reigning Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators split two games in Stockholm, Sweden. The Penguins skated to a 4-3 overtime victory in the season opener on Saturday before falling 3-1 on Sunday.
Four games are scheduled for tonight and seven contests are set for Friday. Among the action planned for Thursday, the Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Wings enter the 2008-09 season as the defending Stanley Cup champions, after beating the Penguins in six games in the Stanley Cup Final. Detroit kept a number of its stars from its latest championship-winning team, but announced last week veteran defender Chris Chelios will miss three-to-six weeks with a fractured right tibia. The Penguins also may be missing a key component for the start of the season. However, phenom center Sidney Crosby is listed as probable to play Saturday despite a sore groin. On the other side of the standings, the Lightning were one of the worst teams in the league. Both the Bolts and the Los Angeles Kings finished with an NHL-worst 71 points last season.
Many eyes will be on another young star as the season begins. Twenty-three-year-old Alex Ovechkin hopes to continue his torrid scoring pace of last season. The Washington Capitals forward became just the 19th player in NHL history to score 60 goals in a season. The Russian finished the season as the league leader with 65 goals and 112 points.
Self-described "hockey mom," Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin will drop the puck for the ceremonial face-off as Philadelphia Flyers begin their season this weekend. The Flyers are hosting the New York Rangers Saturday night. During the Republican National Convention, Palin is remembered for saying the only difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull is lipstick.
Nearly 100 former Olympians will be in St. Louis this weekend celebrating the anniversary of some of their greatest athletic feats. Members of the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games will converge on a downtown hotel for what is believed to be the first all-sport Olympic reunion in history. The 1968 US team included such legendary sports names as George Foreman, Cathy Rigby and Mark Spitz. The reunion begins Friday and wraps up Sunday.
