Rockies, etc.

It was way past many East Coast bedtimes, but last night the Colorado Rockies finished off the Diamondbacks, 6-4, advancing to their first ever World Series. Their run of 21 out of the last 22 games speaks for itself. Absolutely incredible. The question now is, can they keep that pace going for four more games, against the AL champ? Logic says they gotta crash at some point, but I'm sure as heck not betting against them. In my mind though, there are some areas of concern:

-There will be an 8 day layoff until Game 1 of the WS. During this time, there will be all kinds of media coverage, questions about whether they're ready, and time for the fact that they are going to the World Series will sink in. On the other hand, the Indians/Red Sox series appears as if it's going deep, and the players on those teams wont be thinking about baseball, they'll be busy playing it. I think it's analogous to the Super Bowl: when there's two weeks off before the Super Bowl, the teams appear more nervous at the beginning of the game, and that's why a lot of Super Bowls are poorly played, even by the winners (COUGHXLCOUGH). However, some years there has been only one week off before the Super Bowl (for example, the 9/11 year when everything got pushed back a week). It always seems like these games are better played and are closer contested towards the end (the 9/11 Super Bowl was Patriots/Rams, which is remembered as one of the better ones). Anyways, the Rocks may be shaky in the first 2 games, especially if they're at Fenway.

-Most of the Rockies victories in this stretch have come against the Dodgers, Padres, Phillies, and D-backs. None of those teams are anywhere near as good as the Indians or Red Sox. Will they be able to step up to the level of competition?

-AL teams have an unfair advantage when facing NL teams, thanks to the DH rule. They have this advantage regardless of the ballpark they're playing in. I'll have a separate post about this closer to the start of the WS.

But what the hell, the Rockies have defied so many expectations to this point, that anything is possible. No matter who comes out of the AL, this will be a fun World Series to watch.

Elsewhere in the world of sports:

• The aforementioned ALCS also had a game last night, with the Indians beating the Sox 4-2 to go up 2-1 in the series. Luckily, there won't be much time for whining from Sox fans, as Game 4 is tonight. Senior citizens special: Tim Wakefield (who played for the 1992 Pirates) vs. Paul Byrd. Look for the knuckleball to confuse the Cleveland hitters and for the Sox to even up the series.
• The Giants beat the Arena League's Atlanta Falcons 31-10 on MNF. Of course since the G-men have won 4 straight after a horrible start, everyone is talking about how they're back, and Coughlin is a good coach now, Eli is a good QB now, they have a good defense now, etc. Everyone seems to forget that they do this every single year: start hot, lose a game around midseason that they have no business losing, and collapse down the stretch, backing into the playoffs since there's no one else in the NFC that is good. Last year, they were 6-2, were spotted 21 by the Titans and lost, and wound up 8-8. They managed to get the last playoff berth, which resulted in a quick exit at the hands of the Eagles. There's no reason to believe the same thing won't happen this year. In fact, look for the game in London, against the winless Dolphins, to be the game in which it all starts to fall apart.