Thanks for the ride

Well apparently the 9 days off and a better equipped team (talent and payroll) were a little too much - OK maybe way too much - for the Rockies to handle. Being that some members of my fam are pretty serious Sox fans, I wasn't too upset seeing Boston capture their second title in the last 4 years. It would have been nice to see the series at least head back to Boston, but I don't think that does anything to diminish what the Rockies did to capture the NL Pennant.

So to the Rockies I say thanks for the wild ride. And to their management I plead for them to keep this great core together and spend wisely over the next few years. There's no reason why we shouldn't be celebrating Rocktober again next year.

Who's hangin' with Big Mo?

Well both MLB baseball, the city of Boston, and several members of my family were finally able to breathe again last night. The Red Sox rolled through the Indians to advance to the World Series. I'm sure Bud the Boss is pretty happy to know that this World Series should be pretty widely watched. You could argue that the Series will feature one of the biggest bandwagon teams around against the biggest bandwagon team this season. So a lot of people should be tuning in.

The way the Red Sox rolled through the Indians after falling down 3-1 got me to thinking about momentum. No one really knows how to describe momentum in relation to sports, but you know it when you see it. You know it when a team blocks a punt and returns it for a touchdown. Or when a someone absolutely posterizes some poor dude on a dunk. You can also tell it in both the Rockies and the Red Sox right now. The Rockies have won 21 out of 22, and needed everyone of the first 14 to even make the playoffs. They rolled through both the Phillies and Diamondbacks, and in my book are on the greatest run ever. The Red Sox completely destroyed the Indians over the last three games of the ALCS. They outscored Cleveland 30-5 in those 3 games.

So who has Big Mo on their side as we head towards game 1 on Wednesday?

Many people would probably argue that - whatever it is - momentum goes away if you don't use it. The Rockies will have not played in 8 days come Wednesday. Will they still be riding this wave of Big Mo? Or is it in the hands of the suddenly surging Red Sox? The Rocks had 4 games off before they faced the D'Backs and that didn't hold them back. The real question for them will be how they respond against a team stocked with post-season experience. Hopefully both ride their collective momentum to a great series. I guess we won't really know until it gets underway. But my guess is that when Matt Holliday puts a hole in the Green Monster in the top of the first inning, we'll know!

Welcome to Big Time Football

When I made the move from Mountain West powerhouse University of Wyoming to the 11th member of the Big 10, I had prepared myself for everything football related to be bigger, much bigger. Now, I love the Cowboys. I'm typing this post while wearing a Wyoming Football Jersey I just got on eBay cause I had to send Waymon's old jersey back to Wyo. The big news in Cowboy history was beating UCLA 24-21 in thrilling fashion at the 2004 Las Vegas Bowl. But things at Penn State operate at a different level. Pre-season talk around here is about winning the National Championship (the Lions have 2). The recruits here are of a higher caliber. The Pokes have one recruit verbally committed with a rating of 70. Of the 10 verbal commits to Penn State, only 3 have a rating below 70. As I made clear earlier Beaver Stadium is really REALLY big. The coach is Joe freakin Paterno.

However, the off-field issues are also much bigger. Let's review for the folks back home. Since last season ended, Penn State football players (and coaches HAHA) have been involved in the following issues:

Today - Running Back Austin Scott charged with rape, sexual assault, and aggravated indecent assault in connection with an incident last weekend. He was suspended for the Iowa game for a violation of 'team rules.'

Also this week - Head Coach Joe Paterno was involved in some sort of a traffic incident. To me, it seems like it was a pretty hilarious encounter. At least thats the impression I get from the CDT.

Also this week - Several players were reportedly involved in a fight at the Student Union.

Also this week - Two reserve freshmen — punter Ryan Breen and tailback Joe Suhey — were cited by police for underage drinking.

Earlier this season - Tight end Andrew Quarless and backup defensive back Willie Harriott had been suspended by Paterno for a few games after university police cited them for underage drinking.

Last spring - Several players were disciplined after an altercation. Two of the players, safety Anthony Scirrotto and defensive lineman Chris Baker, are scheduled to stand trial in December on related criminal charges. From what I understand, Scirrotto was involved in a fight of some sort, gathered up his boys, and went back for some more. Paterno is currently making the team help clean the stadium after games.

Lets hope the squad can keep their minds on Wisconsin. My final score prediction: 5-3. Winner? Flip a coin. Both teams will get first half field goals and one will get a third quarter safety.

In other news, GO POKES! Let's get it to 5-1 this weekend. Just under 4 hours (10:18 eastern time) till the Rockies start again!

Playoffs - Divisional Round

I have been watching - and blogging about - a lot of baseball lately. But with all these quick series, I'm on baseball withdrawal so I feel the need to blog again. For me, the divisional round made two impressions. First, only one series went past 3 games. This means there are no games till Thursday, thanks to the new schedule based on TV contracts. Only one series clinching game was really all that exciting. The Rockies had three straight hits with two outs to score the go ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. It was a pretty good game. The Cubs and Angels both got beat down, and the Yankees were never really in that fourth game.

But the main impression the Divisional Round made on me can be summed up in 2 words: Frank TV. Now I'm not really sure what Frank TV is going to be about, but TBS is certain that it's going to be awesome. At the beginning and end of every commercial break they ran an ad for Frank TV. I couldn't take it anymore. I commented on this to a friend and he suggested that I send TBS an email. So I did. This is the email that I sent on October 4th:

"I think we are all well aware that you have a new show starting soon called Frank TV. You are going to ruin the playoffs for myself, and millions of other people that are already tired of seeing a John Madden impersonation, if you continue to plug the show at the beginning and end of every commercial break.

I know that you believe that 'more is better', but when all you do is show the same guy in a costume doing an impersonation it gets to be a bit too much.

Please cut back on the Frank TV promos.

Please."

Keep in mind that the playoffs started on October 3rd. If Frank TV turns out to be horrible, you heard it here first.

What do you think?

Jerry Crasnick has a cool article on ESPN.com discussing the set-up of MLB playoffs. I like the way that the playoffs in baseball are set up. The season is long, and I like that the playoffs - in relation to say the NBA or NHL which have 16 teams - are short. However, I've never known a different system. I'd like to know what people think who have seen MLB playoffs before and after realignment.

Purple Pride

Milestones aside, this baseball season will stand out for me for two reasons: (1) The Mets being 7 up with 17 to play and not even making the playoffs. (2) The Rockies winning 13 of 14 down the stretch to force - and then win - a dramatic one game playoff to win the Wild Card.

The Colorado Rockies have not been around for all that long, making their MLB debut in 1993. They moved in to Coors Field in 1995 and have been there ever since. With the Rocks making only their second playoff appearance (first being 1995), the Purple Pride Bandwagon is pretty jam packed. It was definitely great to see Coors Field packed towards the end of the season as the Rocks stormed to the playoffs. It also reminded me of some of the not-so-great displays of baseball I witnessed at Coors Field during the numerous Rockies games I attended while at UW (I think my Mom and Dad probably remember the 26-4 (?) debacle we witnessed from the Rock Pile one year). Let me also note that Coors Field is an place to watch a ball game - and you can buy a game ticket for less than a beer!

While this may be hard to believe, I became a Rockies fan while most people were staying home during some tough years. I had watched the Rockies make several efforts to put together a team that could compete in the National League. After the Mike Hampton/Denny Nagel disaster in Denver, the Rockies were basically forced (poor attendance wouldn't allow them to pay big names and a depleted farm system provided few answers) to start over.

Around this same time I started to become disenchanted with baseball in general. While baseball is - without a doubt - my favorite sport, we've had some hard times in recent years. It started in 1994 with the strike. Baseball seamed to bounce back, but we had apparently become firmly entrenched in the steroid era. While the home run has always been part of the game, the increased power numbers didn't make me a bigger fan. It made me long for small ball. To most, it probably isn't exciting to see someone lead off with a single, get bunted to second, and score on a base hit. But that's what I love about baseball, all of the complex strategy. In the end, however, it was the lack of a salary cap that really threatened my relationship with baseball. Over the past couple of years I got really disgusted by big market teams throwing money all over the place while most small market teams struggled pay emerging young talent.

And this is where the Rockies come in. Over the course of the last 3-4 years I've watched the Rockies young talent start to develop. And during the last month it all came together. After last season I had a lot of conversations with people about the possibility of the Rockies parting ways with Todd Helton. My typical response was something like this, "I'd really like to see him have an opportunity to play in the post season, but I don't think it is quite the Rockies' time so maybe they should trade him for more young talent." Well the move never happened and nothing made me happier than Helton's career defining home run last night.

Now we can only hope that the Rockies can hold on to some of their talent and compete for the NL West Crown for years to come! And no, replay does not belong in baseball.

GO ROCKIES!!!

What a finish!!!

Go Rockies!!!

(I don't think Holliday touched the plate, but that makes up for the missed home-run call.)


Bring on the Phillies!

Gives me a headache...

All of the possible baseball scenarios are CRAZY! I can hardly follow all of the possible scenarios with only 1 game left. Here is a good NL link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21054345/

I'm not quite sure they have it all covered. AL is playing for home field, also important, but far less confusing (head-to-head records).

It's gonna be a crazy day.

The Comeback Kid

Baseball is easily my favorite sport. I love pretty much everything about it, and I love the great baseball stories. Last night Rick Ankiel added a chapter to baseball lore.

I can remember watching the playoff game against the Braves when Ankiel just completely lost his stuff. It was a really sad story because he was so young and seemed to have such a promising career ahead of him. As the linked Wikipedia article documents, Ankiel made a few unsuccessful attempts to return to The Show as a pitcher. Then a few years back he decided to switch to the outfield. I became an instant fan and was really hoping to see Ankiel roaming the Cardinal outfield someday. Well that someday was last night. And not only did Ankiel return, but he blasted a 3-run homerun in his first professional game as an outfielder. I got goosebumps just typing about it!

The only sad part of this story is that it took a drug problem by Scott Spiezio for Ankiel to get his second chance.