So the Tigers were gonna sweep, eh?

[Bake]

HOW 'BOUT THEM CARDS!!!! Detroit's vaunted pitching has put the Tigers in firmly in command, down 2-1! And that hot Tiger offense -- let's see, last night was a SHUTOUT!!

Bake

[deadparrot]

1. This season has had so many ups and downs,

I can't allow myself to get excited. I guess it's kind of an "I'll believe it when I see it" thing. Nothing has come easy for these guys. If you had told me in August that we'd even be IN the WS, I would have laughed in your face. Anything we do now is just icing on the cake of an amazing postseason. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. :)

However, regardless of what happens in the next 2-4 games, I'm just proud of the Cardinals for not rolling over and dying when the national media idiots said things like, "Tigers in 3...well, 4." Despite their best efforts to claim that we're just having "good luck" and that the Tigers are "giving it away," we're proving that we CAN be competitive.

[WildEyedLiberal]

2. You know, after the past two 100 win seasons didn't go anywhere

I almost wondered to myself if this year - with a sucky regular reason - would be the year we'd go all the way in the playoffs.

And lo and behold, we've already done two games better than the incredible 2004 team.

I don't want to jinx us but I'm really feeling it this year.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. Worst. World Series. Ever. (nt)

[WildEyedLiberal]

5. No, just one that doesn't have a coastal team in it

Some people actually live between the East Coast and the West Coast, yanno... it's true!

:P

[ScreamingMeemie]

6. It also has a less glamorous, gritty feel to it.

Two teams truly putting it all out there. :hi:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

7. No coastal team, and few hits (NOT attributable to pitching), and sloppy play.

Boooooooooooring.

And the only thing worse is the bullshit "East Coast Bias" whining.

[WildEyedLiberal]

9. Did you ever consider...

... that the "East Coast Bias" whining comes around because everytime there's a World Series without a coastal team, we have all the urban East and West coast fans endlessly whining about how boring and tedious it is and how no one will watch because no one lives in the middle of the country besides cows?

Note that I am not limiting this to the East Coast.

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. ...

:rofl: :yourock: I am watching the World Series for the first time in over a decade.

Signed,

Moo

[WildEyedLiberal]

11. Moo right back atcha

:rofl:

I hope my Cardinals can take care of business this year, but I have to say the Tigers are a team I would not be embittered losing to. This is such a classic matchup and I love a good old-fashioned pitchers' duel - that's old school baseball, before everything became a home run derby.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. I'd love to hear another example besides this one.

Quite frankly, you never hear a peep of bias when they're talking about how great the current Bears or Colts are, and you never heard it when talking about the Pistons, Bulls, Red Wings, or Rams either.

[WildEyedLiberal]

16. It does seem restricted to baseball

Hell, don't ask ME why - but everyone was talking about how no one would care about last year's series, either, and it was the same situation with only mid-country teams playing. All we heard about in 2004 was Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox OMG they beat the Yankees OMG can they break the curse Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox - oh by the way they're playing the Cardinals - but did we mention THE RED SOX???

I'll give it to you that you do hear a lot about Midwest football teams but as I hate the Bears and Colts with equal passion this brings me little comfort.

[Radical Activist]

19. and Hillary Clinton

Clinton's frontrunner status in the media has a lot to do with her base being in New York and DC where all the political journalists are.

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. It's not just baseball, it's selective with football teams. No one heard

about how great the Packers were doing in 1996 until they were headed toward the Super Bowl, as underdogs of course.

[WildEyedLiberal]

40. True - and college basketball, OMG college basketball

If you're not in the ACC or Big East, forget about it. You might as well not exist for all the national media coverage you'll get.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

30. If it were the Cubs and not the White Sox last year, it'd have been much different

People just don't care about the White Sox. Something to do with that Black Sox thing, I think.

And c'mon - I'm sorry, but even a casual observer from ANY coast will tell you that the 2004 ALCS was one of the biggest stories in sports history. Nothing could stack up to that, especially when you toss in the mitigating circumstances (biggest rivalry in sports, "the curse", etc.)

[Radical Activist]

35. And why is it the biggest rivalry in sports?

Where I am, the big rivalry in sports is Cubs v. Cards and people could care less about the Yankess and Boston. Its the "biggest rivalry in sports" as you call it because media outlets based in the northeast overblow a regional rivalry into a national one. Anyone could tell you about it because it gets more coverage than it deserves.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

37. Sorry, but I'd give Giants/Dodgers 2nd place well before Cubs/Cards

I'd also give Packers/Bears higher billing, along with Auburn/Alabama and Duke/North Carolina. Cubs and Cards are rather mild, quite frankly. Not much more than a sporting rivalry there.

[WildEyedLiberal]

41. Aww come on, now that's just pure subjectivity

Granted this is ALL subjective but you're totally ignoring what a big deal the Cubs/Cards rivalry is here in the Midwest. No, the fans aren't typically as verbally abusive as they can be at Sox/Yankees games, but Cubs/Cards games sell out the minute they go on sale at either Wrigley or Busch, and if you live in an area like I do that is evenly split between Cardinals and Cubs fans, hating the "other team" is just as much a part of the local sports culture as the rivalries out east.

Also I would argue that the Cards/Cubs rivalry is a more accurate representation of a true rivalry since I don't really see any reciprocity in the Sox/Yankees rivalry - Red Sox fans LOATHE the Yankees, but from what I've seen Yankees fans don't give much of a shit about the Red Sox.

[Radical Activist]

57. Let's not forget the McGuire/Sosa home run derby

when they both chased after the single season home run record back in the 90's. That captured the attention of the entire sporting world.

[WildEyedLiberal]

58. I had to have a surgery that year

And I was convalescing in Philadelphia right after my operation at the Ronald McDonald House, which lets kids with medical problems and their families stay there for free before and after a lengthy hospital stay. Thank God that race got national attention because I was watching in the lounge when McGwire hit number 62 in St. Louis - against the Cubs no less. It really meant a lot to me that year to watch the dramatic race.

Now as I look back on it I'm pretty disappointed to realize that both of them were probably using steroids, but for a 13 year old kid it was just baseball at its finest and it's one of my favorite sports memories.

[Radical Activist]

48. Well, they're all sporting rivalries.

I've never heard of the others you mentioned with the exception of the Packers/Bears because I used to live in Chicago. These are all regional rivalries on par with the Yanks/Red Sox rivalry, but only the yanks and sox get overblown into some kind of national struggle, even in the movies. I think you're kind of making my point for me.

Personally, I think the most interesting World Series that we just barely missed twice in three years now is a Yankees v. Cardinals series. That is a classic world series rivalry from the 20's, 40's and 60's that would be exciting to revive. The Red Sox and Tigers ruined what would have been an exciting revival of a classic bitter world series rivalry between two great teams with long legacies. It would have been much more interesting than the Tigers.

[PVnRT]

36. "Biggest Rivalry"

I think not. The "biggest rivalry" depends on where you are. I would say that that title belongs to Ohio State vs. Michigan, or Texas vs. Oklahoma, or the Dodgers vs. the Giants, or the Bears vs. Packers, or the Red Wings vs. Blackhawks, etc.

[Oeditpus Rex]

44. Ahem

Note club logo below.

Note also that I haven't whined. Not once.

Note also that "No generalization is worth a damn — including this one." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

:thumbsdown:

[WildEyedLiberal]

46. Okay I apologize for saying "all"

"Many" coastal fans are condescending to any sports team from the middle of the country. Many others, however, are true sports fans who will watch even if a team from their region is not involved.

I didn't mean to imply that every single east and west coast fan engages in that kind of attitude - my apologies if that's how it came across.

[Oeditpus Rex]

50. Graciously played

:toast:

I admit I'm not jacked about this Series, since I have no emotional investment in either ball club, positive or negative. (If the Jankees were in it, or the A's, at least I could get some anti-rooting goin'.)

But I'm all in favor of the season going as long as it can, because afterward, there's nothing until March. :cry:

[WildEyedLiberal]

53. I know

:cry:

Well, my college basketball team is good... so there is that.

But as far as I'm concerned, pro football is just a clever ploy to distract us until spring training starts. :D

[Oeditpus Rex]

59. It's like Bart Giamatti said

"It breaks your heart. It's designed to break your heart."

Yup.

[nickinSTL]

25. yeah, well, those of us who LIVE in the midwest

are happy to be seeing a couple midwest teams in it.

Better seeing the damn Yankees AGAIN.

[Radical Activist]

12. Its turning out to be far more interesting than the last several.

No one team dominance and sweep. These are interesting games with great players. Many of the Cardinals players were part of the team that one over 100 games in recent seasons. It was foolish to underestimate them because of their slump in the second half of the season.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

15. Yeah, but the last two wiped out nearly 200 years of frustration

That alone made things interesting, even in spite of the sweeps.

[Radical Activist]

18. Another example

of the media cheerleading for the east coast team of Boston over the Cardinals two years ago. All the hype doesn't make the game better played.

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. I have a feeling in my bones that the Tigers are going to win it.

Cards best pitcher against the Tigers on the mound. I'll be happy for either team, truly, but I think the Tigers are going to do it. Two games does not a champion make when there are 4 (possibly) left to play. Anyway, it's fun to watch. Neither team had a chance to win at season's beginning...now look at 'em. I think the Cards were smart to put their best pitcher in last night in an effort to throw off the Tigers but I think Jim Leyland's mind over matter is working.

[jobycom]

8. It's baseball. Anyone who predicts anything in baseball is asking for trouble

It's a game of streaks and luck as much as skill and momentum. The Tigers could win the rest of the games, and everyone will look back at the "overmatched" Cardinals as a team that tried really hard. Or the Cards could win the rest and then the Tigers will go down as "overrated" or "chokers." Or it could go to game 7 with four extra-innings games and become the most exciting Series ever.

It ain't over until... well, something ends it.

[Zomby Woof]

14. They got stuck in the pine tar pit

Fuck the Tigers. I have never liked the Cards, as a matter of principle, but good luck to them on the rest of the Series.

Kenny Rogers gambled the wrong way this time.

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. Hey...

:( :cry: That's not fair to Magglio, who has played his heart out this whole post season and deserves a ring. The pine tar decision was only made in the court of public opinion, egged on by the media, which... in the words of Craig Monroe is what they're "best at doing". I don't believe Craig has had pine tar on his hands for any of his homeruns. The media should be ashamed, as a matter of principle.

[Zomby Woof]

26. No one "deserves" to win

It has to be EARNED. As the classic line says, "'deserves' has nothing to do with it".

I didn't need the media to make up my mind. I made it up IMMEDIATELY upon seeing the telltale smear. I have been a real fan for over 30 years, and not only do I know pine tar when I see it, I believe in (this is hopelessly old school of me) THE RULES. The media was right to shine the spotlight on this, but I think they were easy on him.

If nothing else, he lacks faith in his abilities, which were considerable back in the day. That's the real shame.

And I don't believe in blind loyalty. If a Dodgers pitcher had done that, I would have publicly declared that he didn't "deserve" to win the Series. I would be disgusted.

Sports is really just an arm of the gambling industry, so it is never a good idea to get TOO emotionally invested in any of it. The millionaire jocks are laughing all the way to the bank at all of our expense. So damn right I hold them to a high standard - it's the least they can do for leading lives of privilege because they can swing a piece of wood or throw a ball made from a cow's ass.

[ScreamingMeemie]

28. He's earning it. I know what I saw, and I was a "real" fan until the

strike in 95, ask my dad. The reality of the ridiculousness of paychecks hit then. I wanted to see the replacement players play, and I'm still pissed that they penalize those they call "scabs" in a million dollar paycheck world. I'm not emotionally invested, only calling bullshit on the media. Rogers pitched a great game, no matter what I think of his character. Magglio, Monroe, Polanco all deserve (because they're earning them) rings. :hi: It's a pretty evenly matched series and very fun to watch. Plus, on an emotional level, it brought me closer to my daughter (thanks to the Tigers) than I've ever been. :) The problem is, I don't believe, as a non loyal Rogers non fan, that he did anything.

[Bake]

31. Zomby Zomby Zomby, how naive can you be?

RULES? Rules are for losers.

:sarcasm:

I'm like you, ZW. Rules are rules. Rogers knows the rules, and frankly, I'm shocked that he would even risk (a) ejection from the game; much less (b) automatic 10-game suspension, which would knock him out of the rest of the Series. And no freakin' way that was dirt and rosin.

But hey, at this point, so what! Let the Tigers bring it on, if they've got the game. We'll beat 'em anyway.

Bake

[ScreamingMeemie]

42. I still think the Tigers are going to win....

I still watch it for the fun of watching it. Try it some time. If Rogers had broken a rule, there would have been a reprimand. :hi:

[Scout]

70. funny how he went on to pitch another 7 or so SCORELESS

innings after he washed off the "pine tar."

:eyes:

I guess we'd all know better than the umpires though....

[ScreamingMeemie]

71. I'm really thinking they should move the rest of the games here

since it's sunny and all... :toast:

I'm really sick of this Kenny Rogers crap. If he had cheated he would have been stopped, inspected and then ejected.

[SteppingRazor]

17. Goooooooooooooo CARDS!!!!!!

:woohoo:

[Radical Activist]

22. It must be embarrassing for the Tigers that

they almost blew the only game out of three that they've won so far. Cards were one hit away from winning game two in the ninth. The Tigers are looking like the inferior team, and they are.

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. In the minds of those cheering on the Cards perhaps. But this girl

is proud of the team that came from nowhere to grab the imaginations of people everywhere. 3 games does not a series make. :hi:

[Bake]

24. Game Two: Ninth inning, bases loaded

You can't watch that and tell me with a straight face that this is a boring WS! That was BASEBALL, BABY!!!!

I don't know that the Tigers are looking "inferior," but I will say that they're not playing with the intensity that the Cards are.

Bake

[Zomby Woof]

27. And could you imagine...?

If a Cardinals pitcher had been caught with pine tar on his hand, the Tigers' fans would be calling for his head on a platter. Sports brings out the worst in their fans - double-standards become excusable and forgiven.

[ScreamingMeemie]

29. I disagree. Remembering back to George Brett, watching the hysterics

of that game... My father told me then what bullshit the pine tar incident is/was... just as proving a hit batter by shoe polish on a shoe is. I say, let them play. Many things get called into question. Bad umping... steroids... the whole of it is just utter ridiculousness.

[Bake]

33. So what about a spitballer?

Just let him play? Pine tar is the same thing. It improves a pitcher's grip on the ball, etc. The RULES say NO FOREIGN SUBSTANCE.

And the Tigers don't "deserve" a ring until they win four games. Right now they're down 2-1.

Bake

[ScreamingMeemie]

34. I'm posting my opinion.. if you don't mind.

I've watched these guys play their hearts out all year. I believe they've earned a ring. I believe Magglio is one of the best role models out there and would love to see him get what he (yes I'll say it again) has earned after two years of what he terms a "nightmare". As stated above, three games does not a WS make. What about a spit baller? I'm going with my father on this. To make the majors takes talent in and of itself. Blaming this stuff for losing (what are well played games by both sides in this WS) is silly...not to mention stupid. If you can't enjoy the game without getting worked up, why watch?

[Bake]

39. All they've earned so far is a trip to the Series.

To earn The Ring, they've got to win four games against a team that ALSO earned a trip to the Series.

I'm not dissing the Tigers. You stated an opinion; I'm stating a FACT. Nobody - neither the Tigers nor the Cards, at this point - has EARNED the World Series Championship.

And I'm not blaming anything for the Cards losing Game Two. I was one of the first to give credit to Rogers, but I'll tell you one thing: the Cards will be watching Rogers' hand(s) for foreign substances IF there is a Game Six. And if he BREAKS THE RULE, he has "earned" himself an ejection from the game and an automatic 10-game suspension, which he can serve out in 2007.

Bake

[ScreamingMeemie]

43. The Tigers have earned it. I'm having fun.

:hi:

[LynneSin]

32. This Tiger looks like he is

[kwassa]

38. GO TIGERS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[Broken_Hero]

45. A lot of baseball left...:)

I thought the Tigers would do it 4-1, but the Cards are fighting tooth and nail...any team that slaps the Yanks down like the Tigers did, has to be the favored...but the Cards aren't any scabs either...Pujols, Edmonds, Roland...three fine batters....I think its going to go 7 games now, honestly....:) I wouldn't mind seeing another WS like the Diamondbacks/Yanks of a few years back...that WS was awesome...and Im' a Mariner fan!...:)

[Radical Activist]

47. The Tigers won't win two games in St. Louis.

No way. Either the Series will go back to Detroit with a 3-2 edge for the Cardinals, or it won't go back to Detroit at all.

[WildEyedLiberal]

49. I agree

Although I'm going to refrain from posting any predictions of specific games because I don't want to jinx the team or the pitchers. I REALLY wanted tickets to tomorrow night's game but when I tried to buy them online they were sold out. Such is my luck I guess.

[Radical Activist]

51. wow

Series tickets would be amazing. I would have done *anything* to go along with you if you had gotten two, and I do mean anything. ;-) :9

[WildEyedLiberal]

55. Bwahahahaha

I shall keep this in mind! :evilgrin:

This year they had a lottery to "win" the chance to BUY tickets, and I didn't get picked on the first time around, but I did get chosen for the second chance sale. I'm not sure how, though, because when I logged on with my password all the games were already sold out. :shrug:

Oh well, I've got my Pujols shirt on tonight and I'll just head down to the bar to cheer them on there!

[ScreamingMeemie]

62. I keep putting my name in for the daily giveaway here in Detroit.

I'm thinking of taking her down when they come back to town and hanging out outside the gate. They've been giving confiscated scalper's tickets out to people who are there at the right time.

[WildEyedLiberal]

63. Oh, you should totally go

If I didn't live 3 hours from St. Louis I'd circle the ticket booth like a vulture in hopes of some crumbs!

[ScreamingMeemie]

65. When they released tickets last Monday I sat online for an hour

hoping to get tickets for her Christmas present (has to be right field so she can get Magglio to smile at her again) and it bumped me off. I heard people from out of state had an easier time. I feel like I've disappointed her, but at least she knows we tried. I've also got a huge Christmas surprise for her. :D

[WildEyedLiberal]

66. Yeah I tried to get tickets online the minute they went on sale

No luck, obviously.

How old is your daughter? I've always been a baseball fan but somehow it's even MORE fun and exciting when you're a kid. I pretty much lived and breathed Cardinals baseball when I was 7 - I drew pictures of Ozzie Smith all the time and was a Cardinals player for Halloween. :D

A "huge Christmas surprise" sounds exciting! :D

[ScreamingMeemie]

67. She is a HUGE Magglio fan.

She brought me back to baseball. We've gone to quite a few games together this season. I actually sent a thank you note to Mr. Ordonez for healing our relationship and asked him to sign a picture we took...and he DID. She is breathing baseball right now. :D

I was a Brewers fan as a child...a huge fan until the strike. I'll never forgive the Cardinals for robbing the Brew Crew's only chance in 82. ;)

I'll PM you the surprise because she lurks around on here a lot.

[WildEyedLiberal]

68. I bond with my dad over sports, too

For all the scorn sports get from the intelligentsia who accuse it of contributing to a bullying, psycho-competitive, and win-at-all-costs culture, I think sports have tremendous power to be a force of good in people's lives. True sportsmanship emphasizes winning with grace, losing with dignity, playing with honor, and giving it your all - and if you don't succeed, there's always next year.

And by the way that is an incredibly awesome thing for Magglio to do - of all the mail he probably receives, to personally read and sign YOUR picture is a mark of a real sportsman and gentleman. Thank God there are still players out there who know it's about the game and the fans, not the million dollar checks.

[Broken_Hero]

52. I disagree...

I think the Tigers can win the next two games in St. Louis...anything is possible...the momentum swings very quickly in baseball, but who knows...you could be entirely right...but I still hold onto the claim that this series will go 7...:)

[Radical Activist]

54. This is how the Mets lost the NLCS

The Mets couldn't win two in St. Louis and they let the Cardinals win one in New York. Really, the Tigers lost the Series after game one when the Cardinals won a game in Detroit. The odds of the Tigers winning two out of three in St. Louis are slim to none.

[Broken_Hero]

56. slim to none...

thats funny....slim to none on a team that beat the Yankee's in three straight games...who sweept the A's in 4 games....:) But to each there own, we will find out within a week or so, who won, and who lost...:)

[ScreamingMeemie]

60. I think you're right... I think Cardinals fans are falling under the curse

of overestimating (see Yankees). The Tigers are a better ball team than some are crediting. The Cardinals were smart to put their best pitcher in the first home game to try and swing momentum, but I just feel it's not going to be enough. Plus, I only get a "feeling" once in awhile...and the feeling I had that the Tigers would end up in the WS when they went to NY. They are both very good teams who deserve to be where they are, but I'm surprised at a lot of the fans of both teams. :hi:

[WildEyedLiberal]

61. I won't make the mistake of underestimating the Tigers

They were easily the best team in the AL this season and lets face it, they have a hell of a lot more heart than some of the blockbuster big-budget teams clogged with pretentious All-Stars (not naming names... *ahem*). Of course the media went on a New York-centered spree and eagerly salivated over a rematch of the Subway series in the entire leadup to the postseason, so both the Cards and the Tigers emerged as underdogs. Whoever wins is a worthy champion, IMO.

But that said, I have a "feeling" that this year is our year... you have the same "feeling".. and that's the magic of baseball... of course, the flip side of that is the tragedy of baseball, which is the reality that one team has to lose. Well, it's tragedy unless that one team is the Cubs, then it's :rofl:

Here's to an awesome World Series between two great teams! :toast:

[ScreamingMeemie]

64. You got it!

I'm really enjoying it...just seeing the excitement on my daughter's face again. And, win or lose, both teams can be proud of beating the odds. The Tigers weren't supposed to ever do this. They were stupid for signing Pudge...stupid for Magglio... I am sure the Cardinals have had their share of derision as well. :toast: Smack talk is fun...when it's fun...

Oooh, I almost forgot...
MOO! :D

[Pithlet]

69. I agree.

I think the Tigers still have a very good shot at winning the whole thing. I'm kind of disappointed in some of the baseball fans here since the world series started. As a Tigers fan who's only ever seen her team go to the WS once, I've cheered on many other teams, including the Cardinals, when it was their turn in the spotlight. Some of the fans of those very teams are bashing the Tigers, and it all just seems like bitter, unsportsmanlike sour grapes to me. I can take some good natured trash talking from true Cards fans, because that's part of the fun. But, for everyone else? Bleah :thumbsdown: