Who do you think will win this year's World Series?

By the time this column hits the streets, this year’s World Series will be in full swing. This year’s series features the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants, and both teams are pretty evenly matched, so I can see this series going the full seven games. I’ll be shocked if it ends in a sweep.

The Royals haven’t won a World Series since 1985, so they’re long overdue for postseason success. As of Monday morning, they were 8-0 in postseason games this season, and they finished the regular season with a .549 winning percentage. Known for the speed on the base pads and in the outfield, the Royals were far and away the best team in the American League this year.

I sort of grew up a Giants fan, but this year’s Giants team is a lot different from those teams of the early 1990s. One good reason to pull for the Giants this year is pitcher Jake Peavy, who grew up in Mobile and played at St. Paul’s. As of Monday morning, Peavy was listed as the probable starter for yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) Game 2 in Kansas City.

In the end, I look for Kansas City to win it all, but I don’t think they’ll be able to sweep the Giants. Only time will tell, but it’ll be hard not to smile if KC doesn’t win their first title in nearly three decades.

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The eighth week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em contest is in the books, and after the dust settled after Saturday’s slate of games, the final standings showed that Glennis Curry remained in first place for the third straight week.

Barlow_91 moved up to second place from fourth place, and Steve Stacey dropped from second place to third place. Ricky Taylor went from sixth place to fourth place.

Sharon Peacock, Ricky Powell and Rod Sims were in a three-way tie for fifth place. Mike Dailey dropped from third place to eighth place. Johnny Davis moved up to ninth place from tenth place, and Mark Peacock jumped into the No. 10 spot.

I remained in the No. 13 spot for the second week in a row.

If you’re playing this local contest and didn’t finish in the Top 10, don’t fret. This contest will run for six more weeks, and it’s a marathon not a sprint. You’ll find that the standings will change a lot over the next month and a half.

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In the SEC this week, there are five head-to-head games between conference opponents on Saturday and one other game involving an SEC school.

Alabama will play Tennessee in Knoxville, and South Carolina will face Auburn in Auburn. Mississippi State will play Kentucky in Lexington, and Ole Miss will face LSU in Baton Rouge. Vanderbilt will take on Missouri in Columbia, and UAB will travel to Arkansas. Florida, Georgia and Texas A&M don’t play this week.

For what it’s worth, here’s how I see each of those games playing out. I like Alabama over Tennessee, Auburn over South Carolina, Mississippi State over Kentucky, Ole Miss over LSU, Missouri over Vanderbilt and Arkansas over UAB.

Last week: 5-1. So far this season: 55-15.