Final Thoughts on 2011 MLB Season: That One's Gonna Hurt

I debated just putting this image, but felt the need to try and create sort of a collage here of a couple of those unmistakably ugly moments of this year's World Series. When I consider that I was bitching last year about the number of early ends to series in the postseason, I can issue no such complaints this year. Of the 41 possible games in baseball's playoffs, 38 got played. And no, not all of them were pretty. But we still got more than our fair share of genuinely tension-filled moments that are only possible in this game.

Thanks in large part, I assume, to an instant epic Game 6 that sort of embodied everything awesome and awful about the entire postseason, the title to my post for the incorrect pick went from looking like a possibility to being a pretty good-size hit. Good for baseball.

Of course, that sixth game pretty much made an immediate claim to legendary status just for the dramatic moment after moment after moment that unfolded at the end. And the pain that any Rangers fan is feeling today is one that puts the rest of the 29 teams to pretty sever shame. I've harped enough about the Atlanta and Boston failures this season, but right now it's pretty clear that as long as we're talking about who should be hurting the most, I don't know that I've ever seen a team come within one strike twice.

And I'm wondering when they're going to start getting really bitter.

Final Thoughts on 2011 Atlanta Braves: I'm over it

As I said in my World Series pick this year, the nine lives of this year's St. Louis Cardinals have now helped me get over the fact that a Braves team that had been widely assumed to be the National League Wild Card this year instead came up one game short of getting into the playoffs. A late-surging team didn't just come in and swipe the final playoff spot from the Braves and then fold. No, instead the Cards are actually about six four innings away from possibly winning the World Series.

And their run has been every sort of improbable, capped off, no less, by a Game 6 that some are calling the greatest game they've ever seen. (I'm not going that far.) People will remember that for years. St. Louis accomplished something.

Now what about that other league's wild finish? The Red Sox suddenly appear to be a still-sinking ship with both Theo and Terry fleeing town, and the Rays that took the Wild Card from them quickly fell to Texas. So, years from now, that's still going to be remembered more as a Boston disaster than a Tampa Bay accomplishment.

And this year's Braves? Oh, sure ... they blew a pretty good size lead in the division too. But like I said, St. Louis was red hot when Atlanta could barely manage to win any series. And when you compare not getting into the playoffs to the many, many painful season-ending losses that actually occurred in postseason games not so long ago, this year isn't going to hurt near as much as the 1991 finish. Or 1996. Or 1998.

No, Braves fans should be saying this ranks among those. Yeah, it's a new kind of "suck," but we've been through worse. The way this season ended was irritating, but I don't think it's going to be terribly haunting.

2011 World Series Prediction: Lowest Rated Series Ever?

We knew Fox couldn't have been pleased as soon as the first round concluded, and alas, here we are with a Fall Classic featuring the markets of Dallas and St. Louis.

Hmmm ...

They were pondering this thought on the radio today, and I have a hard time believing this year's World Series will hit a new record low. All it really has to do is go more than five games, and I'm sure it will avoid that dubious honor. It might not miss it by much, but I don't think it will set any new records. Albert Pujols will draw some casual viewers. And what will it be up against, anyhow?

Did basketball start? Do I have another preview to do? No, of course not. Whatever anyone else might say, I think this postseason's been better than usual. I can only hope the last series ends the playoffs with a bang.

2011 League Championship Series Predictions: Off to a good start

The one series I picked last round to go the maximum five games instead ended up being the only one that didn't go five games. Don't get me wrong; so far, the baseball postseason is shaping up to be some pretty gut-wrenching October fare. The good kind of gut-wrenching, of course. Not every game has been of the must-watch variety, but certainly more than usual. Consequentially, I'm fairly optimistic about what's to come.

No matter what I'm about to pick for a World Series, Fox cannot be terribly pleased with any of the remaining markets. Three Central teams and a Dallas market that might as well be the Central, but that would only leave the American League West with three teams. No New York, no Boston, no Philly this year.

Again, considering the nature of what we've seen so far, it's not necessarily a bad thing. At this point with four teams left, I can't entirely dismiss the plausibility of any of the four World Series scenarios.

The Bears' First Quarter: Better than expected ... again (record-wise, at least)

If that title's subhead sounds familiar, it's probably because I was saying the exact same thing at this point last year. Now, whereas a year ago the Bears had already beaten the team that would end up going on to win the Super Bowl, this season the team's current .500 record is still a game better than where I had anticipated their record being at. Perhaps the Falcons are not as good as some of us had thought they would be, but ultimately this still seems like the story Bears fans should be getting used to this season: A fight to get above .500.
 
On Monday night, the Bears will go up to currently undefeated Detroit. Jay Cutler has been sacked the second-most number of times in the league through four weeks and the defense has allowed the second-most number of total yards. Perhaps part of that is attributable to having played the past two Super Bowl Champions and an offense led by a rookie sensation in addition to Atlanta to start of the season, but at the end of the day, this year's Bears squad does not have the feel of a playoff team.
 
As the season progresses, I cannot rule out that Chicago's coaching staff does have a track record for turning around problem areas. But in a division that has the only two undefeated teams remaining in the league, that would mean that the Bears have to finish with a better record than every other second-place club in the NFC. Of course, the Broncos got off to a 6-0 start a few years back before missing the playoffs altogether, so maybe I shouldn't be counting the Lions in just yet. Still, it's hard for me not to count the Bears out. 

2011-12 NHL Predictions: I ♥ WGN

I missed getting this done before what was technically opening night, but forget all that for now. I had been fearing that with the beloved Blackhawks dropping the puck tonight, I might have to deal with no longer having the team's stellar radio broadcasts to listen to. We get WGN's TV station down here in Austin, so that assured me a few mmore televised games in addition to the national broadcasts. And I suppose tonight and tomorrow, with the Stars on the schedule, I can catch some more Chicago hockey on television thanks to the Dallas Fox Sports affiliate.

But I've got the sound off because as it turns out, WGN's Hawks broadcasts are not blacked out. Thankfully. Times a million. Seriously, everything's coming up roses these days. Work's going well. I'm engaged now. And I'll be able to listen to John and Troy this season. What else could I possibly want?

Oh, yeah: Another parade with the Stanley Cup in Chicago.