Tuesday, September 26, 2006

15th Edition - 9/26/06

  • Baseball

The regular season ends October 1.
AL Playoff teams: Yankees, Tigers, Twins and most likely the A's (currently a 5 game lead over the Angels)
NL Playoff teams: Mets
In the central, out of nowhere, the Astros are only 2.5 games behind the Cardinals.
In the west, the Dodgers are 2 games behind the Padres.
In the wildcard, the Dodgers are tied with the Phillies.

Wow, when your team (the Cubs in my case) is out of it for the last three months, the playoffs cannot get here quick enough. So boring. Yet, playoff baseball is currently my favorite post season.

  • The Bandwagon (continues)

OK, the White Sox are officially eliminated from the playoffs, thanks to a 1-14 beat down by the Cleveland Indians. I need a baseball team to care about for the playoffs. So far, I have two requests - The New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Any other offers? Any Twins, A's, or dare I say Yankees fan out there that wants in-depth pre- and post game analyze, some cheering and positive vibes?

I will make my decision later in the week. Again, leave requests in the comments section.

  • MNF

Last night New Orleans celebrated. The city and the football team. They smacked the Falcons 23-3. I was thinking about discussing the annoyance of the announcers last night, or what this could mean for the Saints this season, but I am no one to talk about this situation.

Insert Mike Triplett. Triplett is the Saints writer for the Times - Picayune in New Orleans. He is also a good friend (from the University of Iowa). Here is the article that ran in their paper this morning...

Block party is no fun for Falcons

Six years ago, Saints safety Steve Gleason was on the field for perhaps the biggest play in Saints history, when fullback Brian Milne recovered Az-Zahir Hakim's fumble to seal their playoff victory over the St. Louis Rams.
On Monday night, Gleason made a play of his own that will rival Milne's in Saints lore.
(click here to read the rest)

Hopefully later today, Triplett can leave some commentary on what it was like to cover the game. Look for it in the comments.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

A very, very cool experience. Probably the best I’ve ever been around in sports.
I’ve covered three Super Bowls, a Final Four and LSU winning the national championship at home in Louisiana. My personal sports fan highlight was being there when the Cubs beat the Giants in the one-game playoff in 1998.
But this was better than all of them. The combination of noise and emotion before the game, then the way the Saints lived up to the moment … sporting events don’t always live up to the hype like that.
As for what it means to New Orleans, I think more than people realize. The Saints are a big deal down here, part of the culture just like Mardi Gras and jazz music. There’s an automatic civic pride.
If you can’t imagine, say, the city of Chicago being uplifted by a White Sox World Series or Bears Super Bowl run, it’s not a fair comparison. It’s more like how Iowa City feels about the Hawkeyes.
The Saints aren’t more important than the issues surrounding Hurricane Katrina. But they have the potential to make everyone here happy. And that’s important.

Anonymous said...

another reason to root for the mets...

the dodgers may not even make the playoffs. if they do, the mets will beat them in the first round. that's not much to blog about.

bz said...

I also think you should root for the Mets, one reason is because of their awesomeness. Another is Darryl Strawberry. Sure, he's 16 years removed from the franchise, a wife-beater, and a substance abuser...but he was and will always be the Straw-man.

Kyle said...

Please vote for the Twins. They are the perennial underdog that, despite losing big players (e.g., Big Papi) and having a small-market payroll, have made the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years. They're due for a World Series, and with a good combination of hitting (i.e., Morneau, Mauer and Hunter) and pitching (i.e., cy young) are a 100% guarantee to win the World Series. Why wouldn't you cheer for a 100% guarantee? If you can answer that, you can cheer for another team.