Wait until next year

October 2, 2009

Rockies make play-offs, post-season takes shape

After Texas were eliminated from the play-off race this week, I feared that me choosing ‘surrogate’ teams for the post-season had produced some sort of unintentional curse. I’m happy to report that my jinxing skills have diminished, however, with the Colorado Rockies securing a spot in the play-offs last night.

I caught the game, and the Rockies looked very impressive casting aside the Milwaukee Brewers by 9-2. Aaron Cook pitched eight strong innings, in response to the Brewers starter Manny Parra, who had a tough day at the office, lasting only 2 2/3 innings (that seemed to go on forever and ever), giving up five runs.

The Rockies now face a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to finish off their (normal) season, and can potentially overtake them to win the National League West. This is some turnaround by the Rockies and manager Jim Tracy. The Rockies looked dead and buried in May when he took over, but have since won 73, and lost 40 – a real contrast to their pre-Tracy record of 18-28.

The Rockies have been building up momentum for some time now, and while outsiders for a berth in the World Series, it would be hard to discount them, if they can sustain this rich vein of form and keep injury-free.

With three days of the regular season left, the play-offs are starting to take shape. Even without my beloved Mets involved I’m getting pretty excited. Picking a ‘surrogate’ team probably doesn’t hurt, but even discounting that, we’re going to see some pretty special teams and players going at it this month.

Are you looking forward to the post-season? Any thoughts on what to look out for? Dare I say it, any predictions?

September 30, 2009

Los Angeles Angels – a bittersweet victory

adenhart

On Monday the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team clinched the American League West Division. As you can imagine, this was a moment of celebration. After six months of toil, they were not only champions of their division, but they were in the post-season play-offs, and one step closer to the World Series.

But this was not just a moment to mark a sporting achievement. It was an opportunity to remember and honour a teammate who was not there to celebrate.

On 8 April, Nick Adenhart made his season debut pitching six innings without giving away a run, as the Angels played the Oakland A’s. After the game, on his way to celebrate his performance, the car he was travelling in was hit by a drunk-driver, killing Adenhart and two of his companions, Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson. Adenhart was 22.

It is hard to imagine such a loss. The Angels pledged to keep his memory alive this season, and did so by maintaining his locker and hanging one of his jerseys in the dug-out at each and every game. During Monday’s celebrations, his shirt was brought out, and tears mixed with cheers.

Following their passage to the play-offs, surely no neutral would begrudge an Angels World Series victory. It would be a fitting memorial to the young pitcher.

However, there was one aspect of Monday’s events that seemed a little odd. Adenhart’s shirt was drowned in beer and champagne by his teammates, to toast him and the division win. This seemed a strange act, considering the circumstances of his death.

Clearly there was an element of catharsis in the celebrations, and I’m sure in the moment they did not notice the irony of dousing a drunk-driving victim’s shirt in alcohol. However, there has been some criticism of their actions from some quarters.

Is such criticism too harsh? After such a difficult and stressful season, which the Angels have dealt with in a genuinely dignified manner, perhaps a misguided action at some point was inevitable.

I wonder, will any further victories be marked differently?

Photograph from Chris and/or Kevin via Flickr

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September 29, 2009

Bill Shankly

“Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.”

Bill Shankly died 28 years ago today.

Photograph by J. Clark via Flickr

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September 28, 2009

Fernando Torres and the stolen moment

Ha. I realise that the title sounds a little like some sort of twisted Mills & Boon novel. But then, this is something of a love letter to ‘El Nino’. His performance on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick against the hapless Hull, was a thing of beauty. While he can score scrappy goals, that wasn’t his method on this occasion. Each goal was taken with phenomenal grace, poise and thought.

And that’s what makes Torres such a fascinating player to watch. He is not purely instinctive. He doesn’t such prod at the ball, or find himself in the right place at the right time. On Saturday, each time he got the ball before scoring he still had plenty of work to do. And each time, he seemed to have just that little bit more time than anyone else on the pitch.

Like all truly great players, he seems able to ‘steal’ a moment in order to make the right decision. With a single touch, shimmy or pause he puts himself in control. Slow-motion replays show him at his best. He has that ‘stolen moment’, that split-second pause, where he can process all the information before him and plot his course. And then with absolute calm, execute it. No panic, no unnecessary rush.

The perfect moment to illustrate this was when Torres rounded the Hull ‘keeper Myhill. A lesser player would have snatched at the chance. Torres’ thought and skill made the likely outcome, of a goal, a certainty.

The confidence and presence of mind it takes to do this is almost unfathomable, and as Hull found out to their cost, almost impossible to defend against.

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September 27, 2009

Sports stuff I’ve enjoyed this week

Here’s some of what I’ve enjoyed reading in the world of sport this week…

I’m always a sucker for nostalgia, and there’s something I love about obsolete technology too, so I enjoyed reading Twohundredpercent’s look at the imminent demise of teletext very much indeed. The television text service was for many years the main way to access the latest football scores on a Saturday afternoon, with the added drama of having to wait for the right page to come up (and then inevitably looking away and missing them at the crucial moment). In this age where everything is available on demand, and Soccer Saturday’s constantly scrolling results, it’s fun to think back to how things were in simpler times.

Geegeez looks at the trends for November’s Melbourne Cup, if you could do with a few pointers for one of the world’s biggest horse races. I could always do with some help with how to not lose my money, so this is very welcome.

And there’s fun to be had at the Rogue’s Baseball Index, a sort of urban dictionary of, well, baseball.

What sporting stuff have you been looking at this week?

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