Down but not out (yet)

The first-ever World Series game in Denver was an incredible experience. I'm glad I got to go. The atmosphere was incredible (at least until the 8th inning when the Rockies tanked), and it was meaningful to be there with my dad, brother and sister-in-law. I wasn't very happy about the outcome of the game -- the Rockies lost 10-5. The Red Sox fans gloating among us didn't help. (I guess Bostonians have a lot to be smug about. They're sitting on top of the sports world with the Red Sox on the verge of a World Series win, Boston College at No. 2 in the college football rankings and the New England Patriots at 7-0 this NFL season, albeit they've been caught cheating and got only a slap on the wrist for it. Many even predict the Boston Celtics to win the NBA championship. ) This morning I have come to a very simple, maybe simplistic, conclusion about the Rox vs. Sox: Boston is simply playing better baseball.

Conventional thinking says the Rockies are out of the series entirely, and Boston will likely sweep tonight. I'm expecting that in my head, but my heart hopes the Rockies will win . . . if they can just win one game, not worry about having to win four, then maybe there's hope. Those who over-analyze the game would tell me I'm ridiculous for thinking those things, that I might as well resign myself to the fact that the Rockies have lost the big championship. After all, no team has ever come back from being down three games to none. The chances of the Rockies doing it are slimmer than slim. I know what the world says, but I still have a right to cheer on my team and hope against hope for them.

A listener of KOA radio, on which the Rockies games are broadcast, wrote an e-mail to the station with the following link to an article about the Rockies in the New York Times last week. (Click here to read the story.) The listener also wrote about how the Rockies situation is similar to the story in the movie "Facing the Giants," about a small-town high school football coach who determines that whether his team wins or loses, they're going to praise God. After reading the article in the Times, I can see how that applies to the Rockies . . . win or lose, they're still trying to do the right thing, still trying to go about winning and losing the right way. Win or lose tonight, God notices what they're trying to do . . . and that's really all that matters in the end.