My Hopes for the World Series

About a year ago, the Texas Rangers got to the World Series. Yes, the Texas Rangers. The baseball team. From Texas. It was unexpected and amazing. Forget World Series. Until last year, the Rangers were the only Major League Baseball team to never win a postseason series. Seriously.

They'd lost nine straight playoff games all in the 90s. So last year was magical.

Unfortunately, they lost in 5 games. Which sucked big time.

But I couldn't be too disappointed. They'd taken me on the most totally unexpected ride of my sports fan life.

However...

I also said that it was a one-year pass. If the Rangers were fortunate enough to get back there, they'd better not pull that bullsh*t of not hitting and being competitive. I wouldn't be so forgiving if they did.

And here we are. The Rangers are back in the World Series. It wasn't a fluke.

A year later, I'm a little older and (hopefully) a lot wiser. I'm not going to underestimate the St. Louis Cardinals like I did the San Francisco Giants last year.

My hope is that the Rangers are in "finish" mode this year - that they're not still basking in the glow of making it to baseball's promise land like they were last year, that they're not overwhelmed by the moment.

My hope is that they hit this year unlike last year.

My hope is that they showcase all they can be in all facets of the game - hitting, defense, and pitching. They have the potential to be great in all three areas. Now's the time to show it.

My hope is that they beat the St. Louis Cardinals to a bloody pulp. :)

Ultimately, my hope is that they win and bring the first World Series title to the state of Texas (take that, Houston - lol).

The World Series starts tonight. I can't wait.

Update: Ain't That Funny

Yesterday, I posted about how Michael Young reminded me of Teen Wolf because of his playoff beard. In case you couldn't tell, I'm not a big fan of facial hair. I much prefer the clean-shaven look, which Michael usually sports. Anyway, not long after I posted the blog entry, I wandered over to espndallas.com only to discover that HE'D SHAVED OFF THE BEARD!

Much better!*

*this photo was taken in 2009. I was trying to find one from yesterday's game but was unsuccessful. This will have to do.

Separated at Birth?

To the surprise of no one I'm sure, last night, I watched the American League Championship Series between my Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers and I had a moment. Michael Young, my all-time favorite baseball player, (and usually clean-shaven) strolled up to the plate and I thought, "OMG, he looks like Teen Wolf!" I'm not crazy, right? Right?

A Sports Fan's Guide to Coping with Losing

Note: I chose the title of this post because I thought it was funny, not because I have these great pearls of wisdom to dispense.

In the span of 24 hours, I experienced two sports losses and I took the opportunity to reflect a bit on how I coped. The Cowboys lost their season opener although in the franchise's entire history, the team had never lost a game in which they led by 14 points in the fourth quarter. Heartbreaking.

And then, Monday, my favorite tennis player, Rafael Nadal, lost the U.S. Open to Novak Djokovic, who has now beaten him six straight times - all in tournament finals. Heartbreaking.

Especially after the Cowboys game, I went into shutdown mode. I closed myself off from feeling emotion. I didn't watch any post game TV coverage or listen to sports talk radio the next day. I couldn't. I wasn't ready. I didn't want to think about what went wrong.

This is the best way for me to cope. When I was younger and just starting my sports fan journey, I would get so mad after Cowboy losses. I didn't want to talk to anybody. I certainly didn't want to talk about the game. Of course, the Cowboys were winning Super Bowls then, so the losses were rare.

But the Cowboys haven't won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season. Yeah, 16 years ago. Ouch. I think it's easy to see why I had to develop better coping strategies.

It was even more important when I added my other teams to the mix. The Mavericks were horrible in the 90s, but nothing will ever compare to them losing the NBA Finals in 2006. That pain will always be there, regardless of the fact that they are now NBA Champions.

I can't dwell on the losses because I'll drive myself crazy dissecting what went wrong, how it went wrong, and how it all could have been avoided. I'll be mad at the players, coaches, referees, the fates, whoever, whatever was responsible.

So now I don't think about it or at least not immediately. I was able to listen to sports talk radio Tuesday when I was better and able to think (somewhat) objectively and calmly about what happened.

When the Rangers went to the World Series last year and lost, it sucked. Big time. But I was able, fairly quickly, to put the loss into (sports) perspective. It was the farthest the team had ever gone in the playoffs and the team's future was bright.

Obviously, I'm older now. I'm not a bratty twelve-year-old who doesn't understand why things aren't going my way when they always have. I've matured.

I've had to or I would have been in the loony bin long ago. Sports isn't for the weak. The odds that your team will be the champion are slim and yet we keep persevering. Hope keeps us going. And while I bank on hope, I use a little emotion and brain freezing to deal with immediate pain.