Baseball Playoffs Start Today

National League Race:
Phillies vs. the Brewers. OK, one team is named after making beer. the last time they made it to the playoffs, john McCain was a freshman Senator. the other team is from Philadelphia, the town with (collectively) the worst fans ever (even worse than new york?). how bad is Philadelphia? once Santa Claus was making an appearance at a Phila. eagles game, but had to walk the length of the field to get to his spot. the fans pelted him with snowballs! Phillies suck. Philadelphia sucks. a lump of coal to them!

LA Dodgers vs. Cubs.
The cubs have been around since creation but (famously) haven't won a world series since 1908. a century dry spell is pretty crazy and they're the best they've been in years this year. Growing up, basic cable had WGN and TBS. usually there was a baseball game on in the afternoon so most kids cheered for the cubs or braves. I liked the braves. I don't hate the cubs, but i don't like them. i do suspect their fans have more fun than most, so maybe i'm wrong. Manny Ramirez joined the Dodgers late this season and has been a homerun machine. it is scary everytime he bats, he's so good. I prefer the Dodgers.

that said, i predict the Cubs take it all and go all the way to the World Series.

American League Race:
Boston Red Sox vs. LA Angles of Anaheim. The Angels are Kroger of baseball. I don't even like their name. the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim? Starkville Yellowjackets of Aberdeen! bah. what the hell ever. they have a cool outfielder from Arkansas named Tori Hunter. he's a great guy and has a good story in that his life took him out of a hometown life that saw a few of his buddies get killed. it ends there. Boston is good but not as strong as last year. they have a closing pitcher from MSU named Jonathan Papelbon who's outstanding and, as you may recall, struck out a former Ole Miss batter last year in the last out of the 2007 World Series. He lives down from JasN when he's not in Boston. that's neat. I hope the Red Sox win.

Tampa Bay vs. Chicago White Sox. as a boy i liked the white sox before i knew they were a baseball team. i thought the logo was cool. I liked their players as i got older and i kinda thought liking the white sox (as opposed to the Cubs) was like liking State as opposed to Ole Miss. My favorite player of all time (and the reason i'm a Mariners fan) is Ken Griffey Jr. He plays for the White Sox now. Tampa Bay is a team i have a soft spot for. they've never had a winning season...ever. let alone a season where they won the division or were considered one of the best in baseball (the best?). Their stars aren't super stars and several have been hurt. it didn't matter becuase they win as a team and the stats show it. no big star, just one big team. any team that goes from "Worst to First" is amazing to see. I like the White Sox better in this match but i don't think they're the better team. critical injuries and a hit and miss record will make it tough to beat the Rays who have some crazy lopsided home recrod.

Oh, and the fans swing cowbells at the games.
I pick the Rays to go to the World Series...and win it. They're that good and the Cubs fan whine too much to deserve it. ha!