Over at his blog, Mark Batterson (pastor of the National Community Church in Washington, D.C.) confessed to being a schizophrenic football fan. You can read his explanations why in the post, but basically he’s got emotional ties to the Redskins, Vikings, and Packers.

The Redskins are my adopted team. But I was born in Minneapolis so I loved the Vikings as a little kid. Then we moved to Wisconsin and I became a die hard cheesehead. I cried when the Packers lost which was frequently! I know you aren’t supposed to like three teams. Especially three teams in the same conference. But what can I say? I’m a schizophrenic football fan.

As someone with ties to 2 different teams (the Patriots because I was born and raised in New England, and the Cowboys because my dad has been a die-hard fan for over 30 years), I can relate to the feeling of having conflicting loyalties. Though interestingly enough, when the Cowboys and Patriots squared off a few weeks ago I was definitely rooting for the ‘Boys. I guess I’m more loyal to family than country…or something.

I thought I’d link to Mark’s post because I enjoy hearing leaders (spiritual or otherwise) talk about the teams they follow and the sports they love. Plus, I felt like fooling around in photoshop for a few minutes.

Feel free to put that picture on your new business cards, Mark.

It was one week ago today that Connersvine released their eponymous debut CD on INO Records. The duo, which consists of band mates Chris Wilson and Hunter Smith, have received some decent reviews on their album since its release 7 days ago.

I’ve seen their name pop up online a few times in the past few days. There was this press release (which is a bit old actually) from when INO signed them to a record deal. More recently, CMCentral.com posted an interview with them.

Additionally, friend of Prayers for Blowouts, the uber-talented Andy Osenga (you can download his latest EP for free, and buy his amazing solo album as well), even blogged last week about playing guitar for them for their CD release show in Indianapolis.

If you’re wondering what this has to do with sports, Hunter Smith also happens to be the punter for the Indianapolis Colts.

Now before you make the “no wonder he has time to play music, he punts for THE COLTS” joke, let us remind you that there are jobs in sports that require less work than Indianapolis Colts punter. They include, but are not limited to, the following:

• punter for the New England Patriots
• place kicker for the Miami Dolphins
• person who hands out Good Neighbor Awards for the Cincinnati Bengals
• the Pittsburgh Pirates closer
• Kobe Bryant’s teammates
• snow removal coordinator for the Florida Marlins
• person in charge of recording wins for the St. Louis Rams

If you can think of any others, share them in the comments. And if you’re into acoustic-driven worshipful music, you might want to check out Connersvine.

The World Series is over and the Boston Red Sox are your World Champions (although, my wife asked me last night why they called themselves the World Champions when they don’t play teams from outside North America and I didn’t have a good answer. It is a bit of a misnomer)

Though most people have already put the baseball season behind them, for the sake of closure we need to take a look at my pre-game predictions that i posted last night. I have a feeling I’m going to come out looking like a genius on this one.

1. When the Rockies scored in the first inning, they knew they had a chance to win this one. It was actually the Red Sox who plated a run in the first, and it seemed to happen in about 13 seconds. The Rockies never led in Game 4.

2. How about that one inning where Pedroia made all 3 outs? – Didn’t happen. Dustin made a handful of outs, but he scattered them throughout the game.

3. Manny’s hits > Hawpe’s hits + Helton’s hits. – Manny pulled an 0 for 4, Helton had 2 hits and Hawpe had the homerun. Wrong again.

4. The Red Sox put up runs in more innings than the Rockies did – The Red Sox scored a single run in 4 of 9 innings, with the Rockies only scoring in the 7th and 8th.

5. Not surpisingly, the Rockies used more pitchers than the Red Sox.- Not surprisingly, I’m wrong again. The Red Sox used 5 pitchers, Colorado only used 4.

6. Also not surprisingly, the Red Sox saw more pitches than the Rockies.- Also not surprisingly, I’m still wrong. The Red Sox hitters saw 112 pitches from the Rockies, while the Rockies saw 160 pitches.

7. Tulowitzki’s total bases > Lugo’s TB + Lowell’s TB- Wow. My endorsement is the kiss of death in these prediction pieces. Tulowitzki had zero total bases. Lugo had 1 on a single, Lowell had 6 on a double and homer. 0 is not greater than 7, unless you’re talking about your golf handicap.

8. Double Double Toil and trouble, the Red Sox out-doubled the Rockies again.- Each team had 2 doubles, the most important of which might have been Ellsbury’s to lead off the game.

9. Jon Lester gave up more runs than he had strikeouts.- Lester had 3 strikeouts and gave up no runs in 5 and 2/3 innings. He pitched a great game.

10.Joe Buck impaling Tim McCarver in the temple with his microphone was fascinating, if only for the sound.- Joe and Tim take a hefty beating from the sports writers online, maybe more than they deserve. McCarver does drive me crazy sometimes, but overall it was palatable.

11. Amazingly, the second out recorded in both halves of the sixth inning was on fly balls to center field.- i was half right. Ortiz grounded out to short and Helton lined out to left for the second outs in each of their sixth innings.

12. The Rockies will have more 2-out RBI than the Red Sox have HRs- It takes a lot of talent to be this consistently wrong. The Red Sox had 2 HRs while the Rockies scored all their runs with less than 2 outs.

13. The number of half innings in which 0 runs were scored will be less than 10.- Wrong. Zeroes were put up 12 times.

14. The Rockies were running from the get-go, stealing more bases than the Red Sox.- There were as many stolen bases in this one as there were streaking pigmen. Zero.

15. Manny Ramirez’s helmet fell off his head while running the bases, tripping the runner behind him and causing Tim McCarver’s brain to explode out of his head.- I think even Tim and Joe couldn’t get mad at Manny by the end of the series. Manny taking off his helmet while running to first base left them snickering and speechless.

16. The Rockies will leave more runners on base than the Red Sox have hits.- The Sox had 9 hits. The Rockies left 7 on base. I have 1 prediction right so far. Joe Buck would be disgusted with me.

17. Aren’t back to back homers fun?- They are, but there weren’t any in this game.

18. Can you believe the Patriots took the field in the 9th inning and outscored the Rockies 28-0?- It didn’t happen, but if it did, the Redskins would probably cry about that too. Listen, NFL players shouldn’t be complaining about teams running up the score. If you don’t want them to score again, stop them. It’s up to you. (and no, I’m not a Pats fan.)

19.The Red Sox walked more times and struck out more times than the Rockies.- These predictions I’ve made are historically bad. The Red Sox had 1 BB to the Rockies’ 3 and 4 Ks to the Rockies’ 7.

20. The Red Sox are your World Series Champions!- What do you know, I got the most important one right. I guess I did come out looking like a genius.

Enjoy your non-stop Yankees coverage on ESPN all week!

Congratulations to the 2007 Boston Red Sox. The best team in baseball!

(thanks for indulging me on this one…great season for a great team…it was fun to experience it all as a fan and so much fun to celebrate reaching the pinnacle! It’s something i hope every fan can experience at some point in their lives.)

ok, i need to go to bed.

Will the Rockies stave off elimination? Will the Red Sox break out the swiffers?

Let’s make some pre-game post-game comments:

1. When the Rockies scored in the first inning, they knew they had a chance to win this one.

2. How about that one inning where Pedroia made all 3 outs?

3. Manny’s hits > Hawpe’s hits + Helton’s hits.

4. The Red Sox put up runs in more innings than the Rockies did

5. Not surpisingly, the Rockies used more pitchers than the Red Sox.

6. Also not surprisingly, the Red Sox saw more pitches than the Rockies.

7. Tulowitzki’s total bases > Lugo’s TB + Lowell’s TB

8. Double Double Toil and trouble, the Red Sox out-doubled the Rockies again.

9. Jon Lester gave up more runs than he had strikeouts.

10.Joe Buck impaling Tim McCarver in the temple with his microphone was fascinating, if only for the sound.

11. Amazingly, the second out recorded in both halves of the sixth inning was on fly balls to center field.

12. The Rockies will have more 2-out RBI than the Red Sox have HRs

13. The number of half innings in which 0 runs were scored will be less than 10.

14. The Rockies were running from the get-go, stealing more bases than the Red Sox.

15. Manny Ramirez’s helmet fell off his head while running the bases, tripping the runner behind him and causing Tim McCarver’s brain to explode out of his head.

16. The Rockies will leave more runners on base than the Red Sox have hits.

17. Aren’t back to back homers fun?

18. Can you believe the Patriots took the field in the 9th inning and outscored the Rockies 28-0?

19.The Red Sox walked more times and struck out more times than the Rockies.

20. The Red Sox are your World Series Champions!

I made 20 Post-Game comments before Game 2 started last night. Let’s see how they panned out:

1. Schilling’s line wasn’t bad…4 earned runs over 5 and 2/3 innings. - try 5 and 1/3 innings and only 1 earned run.

2. Who would have thought Brad Hawpe and Willy Tavares would combine for more hits than Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez? – i was close. both tandems combined for 1 hit.

3. Manny’s helmet flew off his head again. Dude needs to switch to a L from that XL. – yeah, no surprise here. As he went first to third on Mike Lowell’s RBI double in the 5th, Manny lost his hat again.

4. Thank you Willy Tavares for earning me a free taco on October 30th with that stolen base in the 6th inning. – What i meant to say was, “Thank You Jacoby Ellsbury for getting me a taco with that SB in the 4th inning.”

5. Ubaldo Jimenez was throwing some laser beams, hitting 100 MPH on the gun more than once. – He was hitting the mid 90s consistently, but I didn’t see anything above 98 MPH.

6. Boston outhit Colorado for the second straight game. – barely, though. 6 hits for Boston, 5 for Colorado.

7. Jiminez not only struck out more batters than Schilling, he also walked less. Nice outing for the rookie. – Um, wrong and wrong. Ubaldo struck out 2 and walked 5. Schilling struck out 4 and walked 2.

8. That catch by Ellsbury was amazing. – No it wasnt. He did only have one catch, but it was routine.

9. The Red Sox laid down more bunts than the Rockies tonight. – Actually, i think it was 1 each. could be wrong about that one though.

10. Ellsbury stealing third caught everyone off guard…including me. – It caught Ellsbury off guard too, because he didn’t do it.

11. Big Papi’s home run almost landed in Colorado. – The one from batting practice. I guess i should have specified that.

12. Manny wasn’t really hustling on that play. – this one was true the moment i typed it. No references needed.

13. I never thought I’d see that day that Manny Corpas would walk out of the bullpen with no pants on. – and i still haven’t, thankfully.

14. Papelbon struck out more batters than he left on base. – 2 Ks and 0 LOB thanks to the pickoff that no one saw coming.

15. Can you believe John Kerry streaked naked onto the field like that? – funny thing was, first he ran out there, then he came back to his seat, then he ran out there again. Poor guy just couldn’t make up his mind.

16.Matt Holliday busted for using a corked bat? Who would have thought. – dude went 4-4, but i just missed this one. The bat WAS corked, he just didn’t get busted for it. (i kid, of course).

17. J.D. Drew’s Strikeouts + Mike Lowell’s Walks = Torrealba’s base hits + Helton’s doubles – Lowell’s lone walk was the only non-zero in this equation. 1 = 0? not today it doesn’t.

18. Varitek hit for the cycle! amazing! – Only if we redefine “the cycle” as: Strike out looking, strike out swinging, fly out to Left Field, and a Sac fly to Center.

19. Garret Atkins should be suspended for all of next year for tripping Pedroia as he rounded third. He should be suspended for 5 years after that for pulling out a tazer and tazing Dustin multiple times in the small of his back. - Don’t taze me bro!

20. The team with the most runs won the game. – I hit this one right on the head! When you’re good, you’re good.

If I’m feeling Nostradamic this weekend, maybe we’ll do this for Game 3 or 4.

Each week The Schnoz Report will get you ready for the upcoming slate of games in the NFL, providing angles (both acute and obtuse, but never right) that you won’t get anywhere else.

As always, if you hate sports, especially football, then reading this post will only make you bitter and angry. Why don’t you go read about the mom who drove a car full of cheerleaders right beside a moving car to grab a beer from some boys.

First Thing’s First

i was in a geeky numbers mood (it happens often), so i tried to figure out my odds on the future AFC and NFC Champions.

AFC

• Patriots – 55%
• Colts – 20%
• Steelers – 10%
• Chargers – 7%
• Jaguars – 5%
• Titans – 3%

NFC

• Cowboys – 24%
• Giants – 21%
• Packers – 15%
• Buccanneers – 10%
• Redskins – 10%
• Seahawks -10%
• Saints, Bears – 3%
• Lions, Panthers – 2%

as of right now, all other teams don’t have a chance

Angle(s) of the Week

Angle #1 – By now you’ve probably heard this, but no quarterback has ever beaten 31 different teams. (due mostly to the fact that the league only expanded to 32 teams in 2002). This weekend Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have the chance to do that when they try to beat the Panthers and Redskins, respectively. Manning has lost to the Panthers twice, while Brady has only lost once to the Skins. If something crazy would happen and neither team wins, Brett Favre could be the first QB to accomplish the feat with a win against the Chiefs next week.

Angle #2 – There’s two games happening in Week 8 between teams with identical records.

In Minnesota, the Eagles and Vikings will meet, each with identical 2-4 records. The winner of this game emerges with playoffs hope still alive, the loser emerges with a 2-5 record and an unsexy coach.

In San Fransisco, the 2-4 Saints will take on the 2-4 Niners with both teams going in opposite directions. The 49ers have lost 4 in a row and couldn’t even beat a red light the way they have been playing. The Saints have won 2 in a row after losing their first 4 and suddenly have aspirations of winning their crappy division.

This has Nothing to Do with Football

The dumbest thing about all of the “will the 8-day layoff hurt the Rockies?” hype was that there’s no way of knowing. There never was.

We all knew going in that if the Rockies won Game 1, we’d be saying that the layoff didn’t affect them. And predictably, when they lost Game 1 the analysts said that the layoff did play a role. (personally i think it had more to do with the command of Josh Beckett’s fastball and the inability for the Rockies pitchers to throw strikes.)

Next time a team has a big layoff, let’s lay off the speculation about if it will affect them. There’s no sense in arguing about something we’ll never know the answer to. If the team loses, we’ll say it did affect them. If the team wins, we’ll say it didn’t.

Fantasy is the New Reality

Here’s your fantasy news this week: Steven Jackson is back for the Rams, DeShawn Wynn is the starting RB for the Packers, Travis Henry will be a gametime decision on Monday night for the Broncos, Deshaun Foster said he is healthy enough to play against the Colts this week, and Frank Gore expects to play against the Saints this weekend.

In other news, i left an angry rant on my Burnside Fantasy League Message Board this week after getting beat by Tom Brady’s 6 TDs. I was angry because in this same league i was beaten by Carson Palmer’s 6 TDs in Week 2. Against my better judgement, here was most of the rant (with names blacked out to protect the innocent):

[Owner who beat me], i hate you and your brady gloating. i hate brady and his 6 TDs in Week 7. also, i hate Carson Palmer and his 6 TDs in Week 2 against me. I hate getting sucked out on the river by two QBs who threw up whack numbers against vomit defenses. i hate losing in week 2 by 25 points when Palmer scores 60 by himself. i hate losing in Week 7 by 13 points when Brady and his video camera installed on his helmet scores 58 by himself. i hate fantasy football and the flukiness of it’s asinine tomfoolery malaise whippersnapper pedigree madeupwords … whoever plays against me can expect their quarterback to have a career day. in fact, you might want to get a hold of your quarterback and tell him to bet on himself and play the lottery and ask out a hot chick because it will be his lucky day. he could probably even expect to get a check on that day from microsoft and aol on that day for spam emails that he forwarded as a part of some ridiculous email tracking beta test that doesnt even exist that he got tricked into, but just because he’s playing against my team, bill gates will wake up and say, “why not send a $43,800 check to eli manning today?”… not to mention some grocery store clerk named kevin walter playing WR for the texans scores 16 pts against me. how did he get 16 pts? was it for double bagging groceries the fastest? did he clean up a spilled jar of prego on aisle 6? did he boot someone out of the 10 items or less line because they had 12 items? ridiculous. i think i’m done now.

No Ticket, No Problem

If your wife thinks the Sunday Ticket was invented by Satan, here’s what you’ll be watching on sunday.

CBS – no HD for the 12 of you who were looking forward to watching Cleveland @ St. Louis. CBS is only broadcasting 1 game into your living room this week. If you live near IND@CAR, PIT@CIN, OAK@TEN, or CLE@StL you’ll get it at 1pm EST. The 4pm EST games on CBS are HOU@SD, BUF@NYJ, and JAX@TB.

FOX – FOX is double-dipping this week, with much of the country watching the MIA/NYG live from London at 1pm EST. In the late game slot on 90% of TVs will be WAS@NE.

Remember, no Sunday night game this week because of the World Series. Monday night will feature Brett Favre trying to beat someone his own age when he faces Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. (The San Diego game might also get moved to Monday Night, depending on what the NFL decides.)
If you’d like to take a peak at the NFL coverage map with your own baby blues, be my guest.

Household Chore to Ignore

Each week I’ll be helping you find something around the house that you should feel guilty about not doing because you’re watching football.

this week let’s think about that room you told your wife you’d paint 2 years ago. Still not painted, is it? You could paint it on sunday, maybe. Of course, then you’d need to go out and buy paint, buy some of that tape to cover stuff up, get some new brushes, and then block off a few hours of your day to get the first coat on. First coat, you ask? Oh yes, there will be at least two coats. Maybe 3 if it doesn’t look just right. There’s no way you’re getting that done all in one day. Perhaps another weekend would work out better? Yes, perhaps. Way to think things through, your wife would be proud!

Upset Specials

Each week I’ll pick an underdog that i think can win its game outright.

Last Week’s pick: TB over DET (LOSS!)

Record for the Year: 4-3

This week I’m picking the Bills to beat the Jets in a game the Jets are slightly favored in. Both of these teams are really bad, but it seems to me that the Bills are a better team. The crazy thing is, if Elam misses that kick in Week 1 and if the Cowboys don’t turn water into wine to win that Monday night game a few weeks ago, the Bills would be 4-2 right now instead of 2-4.

Mascot Wars

The best mascot matchup of the week:

Redskins @ Patriots – Isn’t this just a repeat of what happened back a few hundred years ago? We all know how that one turned out for the native americans who were already living here on the soil. If a Redskins victory here would somehow make amends for what the new settlers did, i might cheer for Washington, but this is merely a football game and i don’t think there are any native americans playing for the Redskins. I’m petitioning the league to cancel this game and instead host a huge thanksgiving dinner feast at the 50-yard line of Gillette Stadium. Strangely, I haven’t heard back from them yet.

Conspiracy Theory of the Week

Unlike most of my consipracy theories, this one is actually pretty legit. I’m pretty sure that the real Al Gore has been locked up in Area 51 since the mid-90s and that the Al Gore we’ve seen on TV since then is just a robot.

Ever since Al Gore invented the internet, people wondered which computer would be the central location, or the heart, of the internet. Sure, most of the internet lives on servers scattered throughout the world, but where is the core of it’s being? The answer: in Al Gore’s head.

He was kidnapped and cloned into a half-robot/half-human replica of himself. While the real Al Gore was cable-tied to a folding chair in Area 51 with fifty ethernet cables plugged into his scalp, the fake Al Gore ran for president. While the real Al Gore hasn’t moved a muscle in over 10 years, the fake Al Gore was programmed to research and create “An Inconvenient Truth”. While the real Al Gore grew a huge, bushy beard. The fake Al Gore grew a smaller, controlled beard.

Don’t feel bad for the real Al Gore, though. While he’ll never enjoy the taste of a filet mignon ever again, he has become the heart of the thing he created. He IS the internet. In fact, every time you send an email, it gives him a warm, fuzzy. So go send out some emails and make him happy. And if you see the fake Al Gore, just wink at him and say “I know who you are” under your breath.

Like I said, this theory isn’t much of a stretch, but it’s worth noting.

If Betting were Legal

Last Week: 8-6

Year to Date: 53-50

My picks for Week 8 (your spreads may vary):

OAK(+7.5), IND(-7.5), NYG(-9.5), CHI(-4.5), CLE(-3.5), MIN(+1.5), PIT(-3.5), TB(-3.5), SD(-9.5), BUF(+3.5), WAS(+16.5), SF(+3.5), GB(+3.5)

Final Word

I talked to my brother Josh last night before Game 2 of the World Series. He lives in Boston and was lucky enough to go to Game 6 of the ALCS. Apparently a friend called him up yesterday with a ticket for the game last night but Josh was sleeping. By the time he woke up and called him back, he had found someone else to go with. Ouch. Reason #458 why i hate naps:  You can miss out on World Series tickets.

Have a great weekend!

-The Schnoz

We’re about an hour from the first pitch in Game 2 of the World Series, which means that by the time you read this post, the game will probably be over. So how was it for you?

Instead of providing you with predictions and insight that will be obsolete in 4 hours, I’m going to make 20 post-game statements before the game even starts. We’ll see how many of these I can nail perfectly.

Pre-Game Post Game Thoughts on Game 2:

1. Schilling’s line wasn’t bad…4 earned runs over 5 and 2/3 innings.

2. Who would have thought Brad Hawpe and Willy Tavares would combine for more hits than Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez?

3. Manny’s helmet flew off his head again. Dude needs to switch to a L from that XL.

4. Thank you Willy Tavares for earning me a free taco on October 30th with that stolen base in the 6th inning.

5. Ubaldo Jimenez was throwing some laser beams, hitting 100 MPH on the gun more than once.

6. Boston outhit Colorado for the second straight game.

7. Jiminez not only struck out more batters than Schilling, he also walked less. Nice outing for the rookie.

8. That catch by Ellsbury was amazing.

9. The Red Sox laid down more bunts than the Rockies tonight.

10. Ellsbury stealing third caught everyone off guard…including me.

11. Big Papi’s home run almost landed in Colorado.

12. Manny wasn’t really hustling on that play.

13. I never thought I’d see that day that Manny Corpas would walk out of the bullpen with no pants on.

14. Papelbon struck out more batters than he left on base.

15. Can you believe John Kerry streaked naked onto the field like that?

16. Matt Holliday busted for using a corked bat? Who would have thought.

17. J.D. Drew’s Strikeouts + Mike Lowell’s Walks = Torrealba’s base hits + Helton’s doubles

18. Varitek hit for the cycle! amazing!

19. Garret Atkins should be suspended for all of next year for tripping Pedroia as he rounded third. He should be suspended for 5 years after that for pulling out a tazer and tazing Dustin multiple times in the small of his back.

20. The team with the most runs won the game.

I posted this over on the Burnside Blog, but since it was sports-related, i thought i’d post it here too…

My daughter Kylie has been playing soccer this Fall, and it’s been a learning experience for both of us. She’s only 6 years old, and has never played any sport before, but she said she wanted to play soccer this year so we signed her up. The kids on her team, both boys and girls, are ages 6-7 and most of them played soccer last year, so she’s a bit behind the curve.

At the first practice i went to, i found myself being a little more vocal than i had intended to be. Kylie was having a great time out there, but she wasn’t ever where she was supposed to be. Additionally, she didn’t seem interested in taking the ball from anyone, which is very nice when you’re playing at home, but kinda defeats the purpose when you’re playing soccer. So naturally, i found myself “loudly encouraging” her with shouts of “KYLIE, GO GET THE BALL!” or “KYLIE GET BACK ON DEFENSE!” or “KYLIE, DONT BE AFRAID TO GRAB A LITTLE JERSEY AND TRIP HIM THE NEXT TIME HE GETS BY YOU, THAT PIECE OF DIRT!”

After the first practice I introduced myself to the coach, and I asked him if he had a problem with me helping to “coach” my daughter from the sidelines. “It’s your kid,” he said, “as long as you’re not contradicting what I’m saying, you can do what you want.”

I thought about that all week. It’s my kid…I’m her dad. And here I am auditioning for the “obnoxious parent yelling from the sideline” role. Between Kylie and my son Parker, I figure I’ve got another dozen years of sideline parenting ahead of me. Perhaps now was the time to decide what type of sideline parent I would be.

The next practice I tried a different approach. I just sat there and watched. When Kylie would run up to the ball and then not kick it, I said nothing. When she would wander all over the field, I said nothing. When she would be responsible for letting the other team score, I said nothing. Honestly, it felt so much better. When Kylie would come off the field, I’d always give her a high-five and tell her how good she was doing, and then maybe give her something to think about the next time she went out there.

But no yelling. No screaming and no yelling.

This weekend is the final saturday of the season. I’m coaching the team because her coach is going to be out of town. It should be a blast. Last week I helped coach practice and one of the girls had a breakaway all alone and suddenly realized her shoe was untied so she just stopped running and tied her shoe while a swarm of kids came over to take the ball. It was hilarious.

Oh and one last thing. During last saturday’s game Kylie actually kicked the ball near the other team’s goal. Towards the goal, in fact. And as it was rolling towards the net, i saw one of her teammates lining up to kick it right in. He was going to score instead of her. Only he completely whiffed. And the ball kept rolling…and rolling…until it rolled right into the goal! She scored! Her first goal of the season.

Her coach, knowing how far she had come since the beginning of the year, said he got chills when Kylie scored. I opted for tears and a big smile myself.

And yelling. Lots of screaming and lots of yelling.

The fun begins tonight around 8pm, when the Rockies return to action against the Red Sox of Boston.

Five Thoughts on this series, and a prediction:

1. Anything bad that happens to the Rockies in Game 1, whether it’s errors in the field or poor at-bats, will be blamed on “rust”. While I agree that 8 days is a long time off when you’ve been playing baseball 6 days a week since March, let’s not go crazy with this. It’s not like their coming back from Christmas Break and have been off for two weeks eating candy canes and ham. They’re professional ballplayers who have waited all their lives for this. Let’s take it easy on the rust.

2. That said, I’ll tell you right now that if the Rockies lose in Game 1, I’m betting it will have more to do with Josh Beckett than with the layoff. In that regard, there might be more pressure on Boston to win this first game. With Beckett on the mound they’re expected to win, and if they fall into a 0-1 hole after a Beckett start, there will be a lot of people jumping onto the Colorado bandwagon.

3. If Joe Buck says the word “jub-jub” during one of the telecasts, Conan O’ Brien will donate 1000 to a charity of Buck’s choice.

4. Will Leitch over at Deadspin has been playfully calling the Rockies “God’s Team” every chance he gets lately. I wonder if the FOX announcing team will touch on the subject at all? I’ll also be interested in seeing how the Rockies’ handle post-game interviews. Personally, I’m hoping those on the team that are Christians don’t go for the “out of context Jesus namedrop” just because they are on TV, that always rubs me, and most everyone else, the wrong way.

5. Anyone who tells you that they know what to expect from the Rockies in this series is dreaming. Never has a team been this hot before at the right time, layoff or no layoff. The Red Sox are the better team because of their pitching, but Colorado can slug you to death (like they did to Boston earlier this year). It’s one of the toughest championship matchups to get a feel for in a long time, which should make for some riveting games.

My Prediction:

Red Sox in 7 games.

leave your prediction in the comments and the winner will receive a robot sister like that girl from the Small Wonder TV show.