It’s National Grouch Day and the Phillies will be looking to close out the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night when they play in Los Angeles. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

The vaunted NFC East took a hit last week, with the Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys all going down to defeat (and Dallas losing QB Tony Romo to boot). Philadelphia was the only NFC East club to win, as they picked up a road victory in San Francisco. The Eagles are off in Week 7, but their rivals all opened as favorites; it’s currently Dallas (-7) at St. Louis, San Francisco at the Giants (-12), and finally Cleveland at Washington (-7).

Other Notable Events

Philadelphia took a 3-1 lead in the NLCS on Monday night with a 7-5 road win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the series. Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs both homered for Philly in their key eighth-inning rally, while Chase Utley stroked three hits in the game.

Wednesday’s Game 5 will feature a pitching matchup of the Phillies’ Cole Hamels and the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley. Hamels is 2-0 so far during the playoffs, beating the Brewers in the NLDS and holding the Dodgers to two earned runs over seven innings earlier in this series. Billingsley also picked up an NLDS win, but he was rocked for seven earned runs over just 2 1-3 innings of work against the Phillies in his last start.

The oddsmakers opened the Phillies as -125 road favorites for Game 5, with the total pegged at 7.5 runs. As well, Philadelphia is listed as the -130 favorite to win the NLCS.

Who has the winner? From the power of 620 sports services behind every selection, the MasterLockLine, Leo Getz hits Tampa last night as the AL Playoffs Game of the Year, now the NL version, the National League Playoff Game of the Year Phillies/Dodgers. 

Kal Elner, a handicapper out of Reading, PA hits a consistent 65 percent when “waiving his normal star rating system”.  He is also the all-time top NBA totals capper. Postseason Total of the Year Philadelphia/LA Dodgers. Click now to purchase sports betting picks from the top sports services or you can get more information and a free sports pick

The Rest of the Schedule

The New York Rangers ran their record to a perfect 5-0-0 last time out, and they’ll be gunning for their sixth straight win on Wednesday night when they play host to the Buffalo Sabres. As well, the 2-0-1 Montreal Canadiens will get a visit from the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. Rounding out the National Hockey League’s schedule for the night: Phoenix at Chicago, Nashville at Dallas, and Edmonton at Anaheim in late action.

News from the Wire

Cowboys QB Tony Romo could miss as many as four games with his broken finger . . . Browns TE Kellen Winslow missed the team’s big upset win over the Giants with his illness . . . Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck won’t play in Week 7 because of a back injury . . . The Ravens are expected to stick with rookie QB Joe Flacco in spite of his recent struggles . . . the Arena League’s New Orleans VooDoo have decided to fold.

A Peek at the Future

If the Dodgers manage to beat the Phillies on Wednesday night the two teams will head back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Friday; if Game 7 is necessary, it will be played on Saturday . . . the American League Championship Series resumes on Thursday night at Fenway Park, with the Rays holding a 2-1 series lead on the BoSox. Boston‘s James Shields will go up against Tampa Bay‘s Daisuke Matsuzaka in that pivotal matchup.

Final Presidential Debate

According to the political betting odds Republican Presidential candidate John McCain needs a miracle to upset Democrat Barack Obama. McCain’s last stand can begin tonight at Hofstra University. Waterboarding is expected to be a hot topic if one were to believe the Internet blogs