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So, I was just looking at some of the latest stats on this blog and it seems like there is a lot of interest from people about seeing pictures of Illinois Governor Blagojevich with the Chicago Cubs.  Not really sure why… maybe this has something to do with it.

Anyhow, I posted a few pictures for you all to enjoy.

Here is Blagojevich at the Postseason Rally on 9/30/2008.  I should note that he was booed at this event, but not as badly as Mayor Daley was booed.

Here is Blagojevich at the last Cubs home game in 2007.  He threw out the ceremonial first pitch on 9/23/07 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Blago was also booed upon being announced:

I also met Blago after a Cubs/Cardinals game on April 22, 2007.  We crossed paths on our way out of Wrigley Field and he shook my hand.  Here is a picture of him on his way out:

Wow, that was kind of anticlimactic.

After a 40+ hour delay due to rain, the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays came back and finished the suspended Game 5.   The Phillies pulled out the win as they win their second World Series title in franchise history.  I am actually not all that mad about this as I have to look at the whole picture.

The city of Philadelphia has not seen a champion in 25 years.  That is a very long time to go without a championship in your city.  It’s like trying to imagine what Chicago would be like had we had no Michael Jordan, no 1985 Bears, and yes… no 2005 Chicago White Sox.  What a depressing thought.  Actually… when I think about it, I am 22 years old (born in 1986) and have really only ever seen the Bulls dynasty and the White Sox (who I’m not a big fan of, but I was pretty excited to see a baseball winner in the city).  Really though, only one of my teams (Bulls) has ever really won it all and I was so young that I barely remember much of it.  Not to mention that I started at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the basketball dream season and graduated right as the team went to the Rose Bowl last year.  Both of those turned out to be a bust in the end as the Illini couldn’t win the game that mattered.

So I guess I kind of feel the pain of the Philadelphia fans.   I’m in the prime of my life… my dad and uncles and grandpas all tell me that this is the perfect time in my life to soak up the sports scene as it will be more and more difficult to do so once I am working and have a family.  And all I have to show for it is a few Bulls winners, the Cubs choking, the rival Cardinals and White Sox winning the World Series, the Bears choking, and the Hawks being the Hawks.

Argh… maybe the Bears or Bulls or Hawks can salvage something this winter and make me excited about sports until Opening Day.

haha this is starting to sound like a joke.  With the 2008 World Series being suspended last night, people from all over are blasting the MLB Commissioner Bud Selig for multiple reasons.  As I sit here watching “Around the Horn,” I’ve heard the following criticisms of Selig:
-it’s all his fault this happened.
-he should have the World Series games played at a neutral site
-he should have the games moved up three hours and not be beholden to FOX (I’ll give the panelists some credit on this one)
-he created the mess as he gave the Rays an unfair advantage as he waited for them to score that run before calling the game.
-bud selig ruined baseball
-people will never watch baseball again because it’s a mess

Wow.  I don’t really know where all of this is coming from.  Where’s the person blaming Philadelphia for not winning in four games so a Game 5 shouldn’t have even been necessary?  I am not the biggest fan of Bud Selig, but come on.  Give the guy a break.  They’d be bashing him even more had he called the game and awarded the Phillies with a win.  The man’s hands were tied last night and he knew that there was no way he would call the game considering what was at stake.

But I won’t just let him off the hook.  I think that Jackie MacMullen was onto something when she said that the games should be played two-three hours earlier or in the afternoon in order for more kids to be able to watch these games.  It has seemed odd to me that these games have gone on so late, especially since they are starting on EST.  I like the idea of bumping the game start time up as it can increase viewership and possibly avoids a situation like last night.

So now what?  I’m sure this isn’t the end of all of this madness.  Tonight’s suspended game has been cancelled so the Phillies and Rays must wait until tomorrow to get this game in.  If the Phillies lose this suspended game?  They head back to St. Petersberg.  Watch the Rays win both of those games and the media explode on Selig for screwing the Phillies out of a World Championship.

This should be fun.  In the end, I guess I’m glad that the Cubs aren’t there.  It’s kind of nice to be watching from the outside for once (granted, we haven’t had the kind of weather in Chicago that you see in Philly, so maybe this wouldn’t even matter).

The Phillies/Rays game is under a rain delay and wouldn’t you know… the game is tied up 2-2.  I love how the game was 2-0 for the longest time and then suddenly becomes 2-2 just in time for the grounds crew to throw the tarp on the field.  While it would be a pretty dumb way to win the World Series on a shortened Game 5 due to rain, I would rather it happen that way as I am just wanting this series to end.  I read a story today that said the Phillies and Rays have drawn the lowest ratings for a World Series in the history of the World Series.  Shocker?  Not really.  The series has been sort of fun to watch for the average baseball fan… but most people don’t really care for the World Series if the local team isn’t there.  Look at the Mets-Yankees series back in 2000— sure these made for some great games, but did anyone care about the results outside of the New York area?  Not really… so they drew a low rating.   It really doesn’t help the cause either when the series has been so brutal with the Phillies stranding what seems like a million baserunners and the Tampa Bay Rays playing like the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

I wanted this series to end as soon as possible but it doesn’t look like it will.  Instead, it seems as though this game will be suspended.   The weather report shows there will be rain all day tomorrow in Philadelphia with temperatures falling to thirty degrees.  Bottom line, the series must end soon or else there will be all sorts of scheduling problems given the nasty forecast.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to get a free taco tomorrow at Taco Bell from 2:00-6:00PM.

Ryan Howard blasts another home run to put the Phillies ahead 5-1.

In this fourth game of the World Series, the Phillies have looked great.  They are clicking on all cylinders: good defense, great starting pitching, and they’re even hitting with runners in scoring position!  The offense of the Tampa Bay Rays has seemed to disappear as they haven’t been providing a whole lots of runs in these games.  Their defense has been shaky too as they have made several key errors.  If I didn’t know any better, at this point, I would have to say that Philadelphia is going to win this thing tomorrow night.  It seems as though the Phillies are going to hold on to tonight’s lead as Tampa just can’t muster up any offense.  And you have to like Philadelphia’s chances with Cole Hamels pitching tomorrow night.

So much for the prediction that it would go seven games… so much for this thing even going six games!

You know, I have to admit that I do enjoy watching the Phillies fans go crazy with the towels and cheering and everything.  If the Phillies are to win this thing, I hope they do it at Citizen’s Bank Park.

As I type, Hinske hits a solo home run to put the Rays within three runs.

I guess I really don’t care who wins this thing, but I hope that whoever wins will win it on their home field.

Game 2 of The World Series has just finished with the Tampa Bay Rays winning by a score of 4-2.

The Phillies struggled to score with runners in scoring position for the second straight night while both teams made a few key errors that led to runs being scored.

I really don’t know what to think about this series as it heads to Philadelphia.  I think back to my original prediction: that each team would win their home game… but that’s obviously wrong.  I didn’t realize how bad Philadelphia’s rotation is outside of Cole Hamels; and how good Tampa Bays’ rotation is.  I guess after watching the first two games, I’ll update my prediction to say that the Rays will pull off something similar to what they did against Boston.  I think the Rays will win the first and second game at Citizen’s Bank Park… Cole Hamels will win the game he pitches… allowing the Rays to win the series in Game 6 when it is back at Tropicana Field.

Oh yeah, and the Tampa fan that threw the homerun ball back on the field… please stop.  That’s a tradition we here on the North side of Chicago are so proud of.

I am so pumped right now.  I think I have fallen in love with a new team— the Tampa Bay Rays.  If I were to ever get to a point in my life where I say, “screw the Cubs,” I would definitely have to pick Tampa as my next team to root for.

How could you not love a team like this?  The players are so likeable.  This team has really overcome a lot as they have gone from the worst record in baseball to the World Series one year later.  I just love watching Tampa play because they just play good, fundamental, solid baseball.

Of course, now this does mean that there are only three teams to not make the World Series since the Cubs last went in 1945.  These teams are the Texas Rangers, the Seattle Mariners, and the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos.  But who cares?  When it comes down to crossing this great Tampa team off the list or watching those cocky Boston Red Sox players celebrate yet again, I’ll take the Rays any day over the Sox.

This should set up to be a great World Series.  My initial prediction has to be that this will go seven games with each team winning in their home ball park.  I don’t know why, but I kind of just get a gut feeling that will happen.

In conclusion, I love everything about this Rays franchise.  I can care less that they have bandwagon fans.  I think fans have to be born somewhere so why does it matter so much that they come out to support the hometown team when they are in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history?  Is the stadium supposed to be empty?  Yeah, it may be empty most of the year, but you honestly can’t tell me that a fanbase is going to come out in sell-out fashion, night after night, for a team that lost nearly a thousand games already in their short history.

PS- I love the cowbells.  I think it’s hilarious.

Go Tampa!

I don’t really have much to post tonight as there is nothing new that has developed.  However, I found it hilarious that tonight’s Game 6 of the American League Championship Series was blacked out due to a power outage in Atlanta (headquarters of Turner Broadcasting System). I guess when the broadcast of the game resumed on TV, the commentators said, “Well, you didn’t really miss much, it’s only 1-0.”  Haha.

I am sure that BJ Upton and his agent are probably not too thrilled as he hit another home run in the first inning of the game.  Ahh, there’s always one of these kinds of stories in October.  Gotta love it.

Go Tampa!

The Boston Red Sox faced elimination once again in the postseason.  They were down 0-7 to the Rays going into the seventh inning.  The game seemed all but over and then David Ortiz smacked a three run home run to spark the team and fans.  The Red Sox went on to win the game, 8-7, in the bottom of the ninth inning.

I don’t know whether this is cool or not anymore.  Part of me wants to say it’s awesome to see how resilient a team can be to come back from adversity.  Look at the 2004 Red Sox… (I need not explain this one as I am sure you all know by now what happened in the ALCS).  Even last year’s Red Sox team went down 3-1 against the Cleveland Indians.  It’s like a whole different team comes out to play when they face elimination.  In the same respect, this is getting a bit annoying.  I guess mostly due in part to the attitudes of the players on the Red Sox… oh yeah, and most of their fans.  I guess this somewhat compares to my earlier rant on the Houston Astros… how that team decides to start playing after the All-Star Break and then goes on these insane runs.

I still think Tampa finds a way to pull this out.  I like that there is the possibility of the Rays winning it in Tropicana Field too.  It should be cool to watch the celebration if it should happen.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have finally been eliminated from the playoffs.  They lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games.  Woo hoo, Phillies are going to the World Series.  Now, all eyes will be on the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox.  The Rays and Red Sox will play tomorrow night at Fenway Park in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.With the Championship Series wrapping up, it makes me continue to think about what might have been.  Last year was so different.  When the Cubs were out of it, I didn’t really care as much.  This year, I can’t stop thinking about what if certain moments had been different.  I think: “What if Dempster doesn’t walk all those guys?”  “What if Lou takes Dempster out before the grand slam?”  “What if we don’t have four errors in one inning?”  I guess a lot of this “What if” is being perpetuated by seeing the Phillies take care of the Dodgers so handedly.

Now the real question would be if the Cubs would be able to handle this Phillies team with the way they are playing.