Cincinnati vs. Philadelphia - Who ya got?

The MLB playoffs start today, which are always compelling to watch, but this season, there's a little more riding on the line than cop cars in the championship city.

His worship Roy Halladay did not take long to get into the playoffs playing for a good team. A lot of Blue Jays fans took a lot of pride in the way Halladay pitched for the Phillies this year, and while it would be bittersweet to see Doc win with another team, it's certainly deserving of the best pitcher the Blue Jays have had in their history. Halladay's postseason appearance has already generated an online tag of 'Doctober'.

However, Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies will start the postseason against the upstart Cincinnati Reds, who are led by a breakout star from Toronto named Joey Votto. Votto led the majors in OBP and the National League in slugging and even though he lost ground at the tail end of the season in the homerun chase, losing out to not only Albert Pujols but Adam Dunn as well, Votto is a good bet to be the first Canadian player to win the National League MVP since Larry Walker in 1997.

It should be a great series, compounded by the fact that if you're a Canadian baseball fan, you probably have a rooting interest in this one. First pitch is at 2:07 pm from the hands of the Reds' Edwin Volquez. Halladay. Halladay Edwin Volquez is slated to go for the Phils Reds.

[TSN series preview]

A shame though, is that the 2006 American League MVP Justin Morneau will be on the shelf for the whole of the Minnesota Twins' playoff run.

[CBC - Votto tops list of Canadians in MLB Playoffs

Headlines to begin your September

-Canadian Interuniversity Sport football season kicked off last night, and we begin with an upset. Number 10 McMaster beat defending Vanier Cup champ Queen's 23-18 in what was, by all accounts, a thrilling game that featured one of the craziest plays we'll see all year, a 101-yard kick return by McMaster's Michael DiCore. Meanwhile, in a less publicized game, the GeeGees beat Windsor 23-14.

-The Canadian Journalism Project, jsource, drops a mention on the Toronto Sun/Pension Plan Puppets issue, which has miraculously made it two weeks without anybody ever having given it the suffix 'gate'. They linked back to a story where they criticized the Toronto Star for avoiding accreditation as well.

-Jose Bautista closes in on George Bell's 47 with his 43rd home run as the Blue Jays crushed the Devil Rays 13-5. The Jays put up a 10-spot in the sixth, but you probably didn't see that, because you probably didn't have Sportsnet One. You probably won't watch the Blue Jays today either, because you probably don't have Sportsnet One.

-In Cincinnati Red-land, Cuban Aroldis Chapman hit 103 mph on the radar gun in his Major League Debut. This somehow affects Toronto native, Joey Votto, who still leads the Major Leagues in OPS. The Reds are seven games up on the Cardinals and look to be a shoo-in for the playoffs.

-BC Lions defensive back and all-around CFL good guy Davis Sanchez will donate his game cheque from this week to the Tony Proudfoot foundation for ALS reserach. For a primer on the former Alouette diagnosed with ALS, here's a Bruce Arthur column from two weeks ago on the subject.

-Finally, the Canadian basketball team dropped their fourth straight at the FIBA World Championship with a 71-61 loss to New Zealand. You may have missed my ivory tower hemming and hawing from last night, which chronicled Canada's struggles in the fourth quarter. At least in this morning's game, they looked