Sept. 16, 2006
Pennant Fever!
 

For those who know me, I'm a Detroiter.  I love my Pistons, even when they break my heart.  The Red Wings?  What can I say.. there's something about that Winged Wheel that makes this city roll.  And the Detroit Lions?   Well, they're still from Detroit. 
 
But the Detroit Tigers have been pushing towards the playoffs for months, and what seemed to have been a monster truck on August 1st looks more like a Honda Acura stuck in the mud.  The wheels are spinning, and the mud is spraying, but the harder it goes, the deeper it goes.
 
Welcome to the AL Central. 

The Chicago White Sox are the World Champs until someone knocks them off of their tower, but it looks like it may happen this year.  The Minnesota Twins have gone 7-3 in their last ten going into tonight's game against Cleveland, and have a record at home of 50-24.  The Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals are out of the race, but as Minnesota and Chicago fans know, you don't want to play Kansas City right now.  They may be 57-90, but they're 7-3 in the last ten, and have been on a tear. 
So where does that put the Detroit Tigers?

It puts them in the hunt.  What was a 10 game lead when we turned the calendar to August is now a full out brawl.  2 of the last 3 series of the season are against those hot Kansas City Royals, and the Twins and White Sox have a date with destiny.. against each other, to end the season.

So who gets the Yankees?  Can Oakland hang on to keep the Angels at bay?  The Yankees are on fire, in their typical September ways, and Oakland sits 5 up on the Angels, but there's one thing that hasn't been heard around the Majors in a long, long time.
 
The road to the World Series runs through the American League Central.    Hop aboard.

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Sept. 12, 2006

Thoughts from Way Downtown

 The world of sports is a special place.  You paint your face, you go out in the snow topless, and you cheer your team, even in a stadium full of opposing fans.   You spend over $100 on beer, nachos, a few dogs and one of those foam fingers, and you get a sore throat from screaming your lungs out.

And your team wins.  Or, they lose.  But no matter what happens, you talk about it the next day.  You tell your co-workers about that amazing hit.  You brag to your girlfriend or wife about how quick that running back was on Sunday.  You high five strangers in the street that wear the same team logo on their shirt.  It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if you follow the league leaders, or the cellar dwellers. You're there.  You're in the crowd.  You bleed your team colors.  You even have a tattoo across your forehead.  People don't understand why you skipped your sister's wedding because it was Opening Day.  Hell, they'll never figure out why Thanksgiving is more about pigskin than turkey stuffing.  And, if they ever realize that you sold your last car for season tickets, you'll be labeled for life.

But you don't care.  You're a sports fan. 

Welcome to Rotokingdom.  

You're one of us.