The Rules of Game 7

I didn't get to watch Game 6 last night due to being out at a concert by Wrigley Field. I checked in periodically on the score from my phone while listening to a great acoustic set after seeing Thrice rock hard. After the set, while waiting in line to meet Dustin, I continued to refresh my phone. It was 7-5 in the bottom of the 9th, and they were one strike away. I could feel a "F*** the Cardinals!" chant coming on... then David Freese turned into a hero. On the way back to the train, I got a text from my dad about the Hamilton homer to give Texas the lead again... then updated my phone on the El horrified to find out that St. Louis tied it... again. Then I waited a while with no news, only to check and find out that St. Louis had won.

As I mentioned in my opening post, I hate the Cardinals. I was pissed when I heard that they won. Take the context of the two teams out of play, and this automatically becomes one of the best games of all time. And when you force a Game 7, what more can you ask for?

Many people believe that a Game 7 is the most exciting thing in all of sports, just because no one knows what will happen. All bets are off.

St. Louis: Wow. What a comeback. As much as I hated to see it, you tip your hat to them. They have all the momentum now. Momentum is a dangerous thing. And while yes, they play at home, studies have been done that say home field advantage isn't as huge factor in baseball as other sports. Will it still come into play? Given the choice, I'd rather have 40,000 rowdy people screaming for me rather than against me.


Texas: It's hard to find an advantage for them. They were one strike away from the title twice, and both times the bullpen blew the lead. On one hand, I can't imagine them coming back after a loss like that (see Braves, Atlanta; 1991 World Series. Ironically, I was reminded of Puckett's home run after finding out what happened. For the record, Jack was better.) But my brother's teacher said that he thinks the Cardinals will be emotionally drained and will come out flat. If that's the case and Texas continues to hit well, They may be in a good position early. If I'm Ron Washington, just trust the bullpen. Despite what happened yesterday, they've taken you this far. Ride them to the finish line.

While I was typing this up, it was confirmed that Chris Carpenter will go for St. Louis against Matt Harrison. Harrison got shelled last time out, but good pitchers know how to make adjustments. And Carpenter is going on 3 days rest. It's Game 7, everyone's available. The only certainty about this game is that nothing is certain. My best guess would be Cardinals win 2-1, if only because it seems likely after a slugfest last night, and I figured if Texas didn't win Game 6, the Cardinals would win Game 7. I stick to my guns. I hope I'm wrong. But I also hope these 2 teams give us a Game 7 to remember.

Game Notes: Illinois @ Purdue (10/22/11)

FINAL SCORE
Purdue 21; (23) Illinois 14

Summary

Purdue jumped ahead early, Illinois couldn't recover quickly enough for the second straight week. Illinois committed a couple dumb penalties on defense to extend some drives for the Boilermakers, and Nathan Scheelhaase didn't have a sense of the clock at a couple points in the game, including a bone-headed spike with 1 second left in the 1st half. They made a run in the 4th again, but they need to get off to a better start if they want to put an end to this losing streak.


Key Stats

•  ILL: 8 penalties, 50 yards. Again, too many mistakes on defense early.
• PUR: Caleb TerBush- 16-25, 178 yd, 2 TD. Good game management, didn't turn it over. What you need your QB to do.
• ILL: Nathan Scheelhaase- 22-35, 217 yds; 13 car, 16 yds. Scheelhaase likes to run, but Purdue shut his lanes down. He needs to stop relying so much on his feet, and his line needs to give him more time.

Final Thoughts
After 6 weeks I thought Illinois would be looking good. They've been struggling these past couple weeks and now will be out of the Top 25. A Bowl game is probably in this team's future, but it'll be another mediocre season for Ron Zook and company. 

First Confession of a Sportscaster

Sports are all about the moment. Who will take command of it? Who will shy away from it? What will this moment mean a year, 5 years, 20 years from now? How do we know which moments are worth remembering and taking note of? This is a question sports fans ask, and many try to answer.

 What makes me any different? Well, like many people, I'm nothing more than a fan. I played soccer and basketball for my schools as a kid and into my teenage years, I will occasionally play a pick-up type game from time to time, but I'm nowhere near athletic enough to be a professional. But I love sports, and that's why I wanted to be a broadcaster.

So here I am. Graduated in June with a degree in broadcast communication, worked for my college's radio station, working part-time at a commercial station in sports. I get a good view of what goes on during games (or at least, a good representation of what's going on).

Sometimes I'll go over games I'm covering, sometimes I'll rant about the goings on in the sports world. Hopefully most of the time it will make sense, but I also hope that this can bring a little bit of entertainment.

(DISCLAIMER: I have a bias for the Cubs, Packers, Bulls, Blackhawks, and any NCC team. I'm biased against the White Sox, Cardinals, Bears, Vikings, Heat, Red Wings, Canucks, and any Wheaton College team. I will try to be as objective with these teams as I can.)