From Spooky to Haunting: The Scary Good Sports Month of October

By Sports Enthusiast and Guru Ryan Mitchell, Contributing Blogger

Good Morning sports fans,

This nice fall day marks the 10^th day of the 10^th month of the year 2014, which means that it’s time for us all to be grateful for what is the start of the pinnacle stretch of the sports calendar. For the next 21 days, we will be treated to a plethora of games across every major sport, from champagne popping in baseball to midnight madness in college basketball. So much action that even the NHL die-hards won’t know what to do with themselves. Trick or Treat? I say treat.

It all starts with the MLB Postseason, in which either the long-suffering Royals or Orioles will be a participant of epic underdog proportions. Not to mention the possibility of a Black and Orange jersey showdown between the Orioles and Giants. How October-fitting would that be leading up to Halloween?

From there, we have College Football with conference play finally settling in across the country, leading to upsets, shootouts and whacky rankings each weekend. Enough excitement and intrigue in the first year of the playoff system to make it necessary to have a case of the pumpkin beer of your choice handy each Saturday.

NFL Sundays are becoming increasingly meaningful as contenders are taking form and fantasy league unpredictability is at a new height. Each week, owners should fear the breakout explosion from a little known third string running back on the other side of their matchup.

The seemingly never-ending NHL season is underway, with the defending champion L.A. Kings already pinned with a loss to their name. That may be the only headline, as it’s simply just too early to think about ice or hockey. Then again, winter is right around the corner. In the meantime, expect numerous Chicago Blackhawk overtime victories and brief capsulated highlights, while you impatiently wait for the next big football highlight. For the sadists out there, though, this is something to enjoy and be thankful for.

The NBA preseason has begun, which begs the question why they don’t just start the season well before Halloween and cut out these snoozer exhibition games. That said, one only has to wait until the end of the month for the 2014-2015 regular season to begin. After an annual October ritual of remembering who went where in the offseason, it didn’t take long to remember the unfortunate nightmarish realization that the Spurs are still the Spurs.

Finally, the start of the madness that is the College Basketball season is nearly upon us. With practices firing up across campuses everywhere, we can only count the days until the formulation of March’s love baby takes place. Fight songs, dunks, Bill Raftery and much more.

Get your candy corn ready and sit back and enjoy everyone. Bliss has finally made its way to your flat screens, IPhones and laptops. Happy October!