Posted:
#1
Last year’s playoff record: 23-11= 68%
This year’s playoff record= 0-0
Goal = 65% or higher again
Thoughts:
If you take the name off the jersey, what do you have when you think about the Cubs? You have a very inconsistent team with lots of injuries. You have a team who gave away a 5 game lead in the last 3 weeks of the season. Bit they’ve been there and they have the talent yet......You have a team that really has no identity. These are facts folks.
If you look at the Rockies: Arguably one of the hottest teams in baseball the last month or so and nobody giving them any respect at all. They play well at home, they struggle away. The bats are hot, the pitching has been pretty darn good as of late and the bullpen is a little better than the cubs right now. The intangibles....? They are hungry and they are playing with house money.
For the Cubs, Lester takes the ball. 3 rings, a beast in the postseason and a guy who was made for games like tonite. Home game, more experience and expected to win are the cubs yet we had those variables in play yesterday yet they couldn’t come through. The line? Opened at -130 or so?! Really?! With all the variables I listed above....only -140 right now?! Hmmmm. Do the books want us to take the plus money team or do they want us to take the cubs at a bargain rate?
For the Rockies, Freeland takes the ball. First career postseason start and he’s asked to do it on 3 days rest. ESPN will tell you how many miles the Rockies have traveled in the last 3 days yet people think this is a huge deal. Yeah....a huge deal for teams asked to play 25 out of 30 days for almost 6 months. It cracks me up how some people buy into the bs the media serves some. Tonite is a chance for a team who has been told for years that they are jekyl and Hyde with the home and away splits and that they just aren’t good enough.....If you don’t think they’ll be ready, god help you. Wake up!
Bottom line: it’s one game and both managers will throw the kitchen sink at this one. Hamels will be available as I know some starters for the Rockies will too. The benches will be monitored on both teams and I think we get a very competitive game tonite. Newsflash right?! What I can’t get my head around is the fact that if the cubs win, we once again get the brewers/ cubs matchup, a matchup of two divisional foes. Does baseball want that in the first round? Who knows but we may see it in the AL if the Yankees win tomorrow. The cubs have played great the last three years but this year’s team BY FAR is their weakest. They limped in to the playoffs where the Rockies charged. That has to count for something here tonite. If the cubs win tonite, I don’t see them going anywhere because the talent in the playoffs is in my opinion light years better with the brewers and the dodgers. The braves....not sold on them right now. If the Rockies win, baseball gets new blood in the playoffs and you now have a live dog going up against a new blood team in Milwaukee who very well could represent the NL. We saw Philly win the Superbowl which was a surprise, we saw the Astros surprise last year.....so how fun would it be to see two new blood teams battle it out in the divisional series? I’d watch. Ratings rule so the cubs getting in would definitely reaffirm this but I feel if the Rockies get in, many will watch. I truly believe momentum is important in sports and as I make my pick to open this postseason, it’s weighing on my decision. I’m a Chicagoan and I can’t stand the cubs but I know what they are capable of. I’m also smart enough to know though that this year’s team isn’t as good as last year’s in my opinion. The Rockies.....there’s something about them that just holds my thumb back from hitting submit in the cubs tonite. Notecards and works cited page available upon request with this essay. Play to come!
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