Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Astronomical Odds
I woke up to the call of a homerun. Sure enough, there was my tv, still tuned to the game I had been trying to keep my eyes open for. "And this gives the white sox the lead here in the top of the fourteenth," I hear as I'm squinting at the screen. Urgh. That bites. All I can do is hope for a comeback as I roll over. My mind drifts away quickly after its brief sojourn into reality. Awhile later I wake up again, and on the way to the bathroom I turn off the annoying infomercial which has taken over the wee hours of network time.
I didn't bother checking the final until this morning. I saw what I expected to see, and I was not pleased. Perhaps through lack of posting I have given my readers the impression that I care not about the World Series. Sure, the teams I have favored have been knocked off, one by one, and here I'm left with two teams I haven't been rooting for. Yet I am not disappointed. I was mocked the other day when I said to some friends "I really believe these are the two best teams in baseball this year." But as we all know, this is not always what happens. I have been excited to see this match-up, and I have caught what I could. (I so wish I had been able to see game two, which I hear was very exciting to watch, and put to rest in the end by my white sox chew-toy -whatever that is- Scott Podsednik.)
It seemed as if Oswalt was being squeezed last night. The white sox are a great team; I don't believe they needed help to win it all this year. Repeatedly this off-season they seem to be on the receiving end of gift calls... this is the touch of magic that we sometimes see in sports, the breaks all falling in one direction as if the universe itself has willed this team to be champion. Occasionally I wonder if these breaks, at least the more subtle ones like the strike zone, may lean in one direction or another based on the ($) good of the MLB ($). If this is the case it seems to have backfired this year, as these "breaks" have shortened more than one series.
I want to see seven games. Much like my expectation for last year's ALCS (although not with my heart tied up in knots over it this time) all I ask for is a full and competitive World Series. I find it sad that the series score does not reflect the tightness of these games; these teams are well-matched... I want to see more. Houston does not deserve to be down 3-0; they certainly have not shown the same impotence as our beloved red sox in the first three games of the ALCS last year.
Of course everyone is obsessing over this comparison right now, and naturally so, since it's the only example we have of overcoming the seemingly insurmountable situation. I've always been a lover of the underdog; defeating the odds carries with it a special thrill, and that thrill is what I believe made me into a sports fan in the first place. (see the unlikely road to superbowl XX, NE patriots, 1985.) I still want to see seven games, I really do... but in the end something will prevent me from rooting for the underdog astros.
What our boys did last year in the ALCS was special, beyond amazing, nearly surpassing the imagination. It accomplished the delicate balance of a painstakingly choreographed ballet. If another team succeeds in overcoming a 3-0 deficit, it will still not compare in the hearts of Red Sox Nation... but to see it so soon would cheapen it. It's unlikeliness would, in a sense, be forgotten. I'm a little reluctant, in considering this, to even root for a seventh game.
Ah, but we ARE getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, no? Tonight I will tune in and try to infuse myself with goodwill for Roger Clemens despite all the crappy things he has said about RSN. Tonight I will root for the stars as they shoot for a game 5.
I didn't bother checking the final until this morning. I saw what I expected to see, and I was not pleased. Perhaps through lack of posting I have given my readers the impression that I care not about the World Series. Sure, the teams I have favored have been knocked off, one by one, and here I'm left with two teams I haven't been rooting for. Yet I am not disappointed. I was mocked the other day when I said to some friends "I really believe these are the two best teams in baseball this year." But as we all know, this is not always what happens. I have been excited to see this match-up, and I have caught what I could. (I so wish I had been able to see game two, which I hear was very exciting to watch, and put to rest in the end by my white sox chew-toy -whatever that is- Scott Podsednik.)
It seemed as if Oswalt was being squeezed last night. The white sox are a great team; I don't believe they needed help to win it all this year. Repeatedly this off-season they seem to be on the receiving end of gift calls... this is the touch of magic that we sometimes see in sports, the breaks all falling in one direction as if the universe itself has willed this team to be champion. Occasionally I wonder if these breaks, at least the more subtle ones like the strike zone, may lean in one direction or another based on the ($) good of the MLB ($). If this is the case it seems to have backfired this year, as these "breaks" have shortened more than one series.
I want to see seven games. Much like my expectation for last year's ALCS (although not with my heart tied up in knots over it this time) all I ask for is a full and competitive World Series. I find it sad that the series score does not reflect the tightness of these games; these teams are well-matched... I want to see more. Houston does not deserve to be down 3-0; they certainly have not shown the same impotence as our beloved red sox in the first three games of the ALCS last year.
Of course everyone is obsessing over this comparison right now, and naturally so, since it's the only example we have of overcoming the seemingly insurmountable situation. I've always been a lover of the underdog; defeating the odds carries with it a special thrill, and that thrill is what I believe made me into a sports fan in the first place. (see the unlikely road to superbowl XX, NE patriots, 1985.) I still want to see seven games, I really do... but in the end something will prevent me from rooting for the underdog astros.
What our boys did last year in the ALCS was special, beyond amazing, nearly surpassing the imagination. It accomplished the delicate balance of a painstakingly choreographed ballet. If another team succeeds in overcoming a 3-0 deficit, it will still not compare in the hearts of Red Sox Nation... but to see it so soon would cheapen it. It's unlikeliness would, in a sense, be forgotten. I'm a little reluctant, in considering this, to even root for a seventh game.
Ah, but we ARE getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, no? Tonight I will tune in and try to infuse myself with goodwill for Roger Clemens despite all the crappy things he has said about RSN. Tonight I will root for the stars as they shoot for a game 5.
# posted by Rebecca @ 1:28 PM 
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The 2004 Red Sox will always have Paris.
[Where Paris equals being the FIRST to ever come back from down 3-0.]
[Where Paris equals being the FIRST to ever come back from down 3-0.]
I don't think we'll see a sweep, but I bet the Other Sox take it in 5.
I liked the Superbowl XX refrence. Squish the Fish! (ha!)
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I liked the Superbowl XX refrence. Squish the Fish! (ha!)
# posted by 
: 3:29 PM
: 3:29 PM << Home
