An advice column for people who live with people who live for sports
Thursday, October 16
The Royals are in the World Series: The Kansas City Royals continued their magical post season run last night, beating the Orioles 2-1 in the game and 4-0 in the best-four-out-of-seven series. The Royals will host the first game of the World Series next Tuesday. This gives us plenty of time to appreciate their achievement so far! Winning eight games in a row is unusual; eight playoff games in a row is almost unheard of; eight playoff games after being one of the least successful sports franchises in any sport in the country for the last 25 years? Incredible. Line: There’s plenty of time to analyze and project and worry before Tuesday. Let’s just enjoy today.
One small step for the Giants: The San Francisco Giants are one game away from joining the Royals for a date in the World Series after beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 thanks to some great pitching by Yusmeiro Petit and some not-so-great fielding by the Cardinals. The Giants won the World Series in the last two even years (2010 and 2012) so if you’re really superstitious, you’re beginning to wonder if something is up here… Line: The Cardinals keep shooting themselves metaphorically in the foot. I just hope that if they lose, they don’t lose on another mistake. What’s Next: Game five is today at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
U.S. women win but don’t inspire: The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team won its first World Cup qualifying game last night 1-0 against Trinidad & Tobago. A win is a win, but it won’t be analyzed that way by fans of the team. We expect domination from a team that is looking to win its first world cup in 16 years next year in Canada, especially against an opponent who we normally beat decisively. That said, the team will take the win and move on. They’ve got four more games in the next eleven days, all of which are opportunities to improve. Line: Sure, we won, but if last night’s performance is representative, we won’t win the World Cup next year. What’s Next: A World Cup qualifying match tomorrow, Friday, October 17, at 8 p.m versus Guatemala on FS1.
