Now Who Do I Cheer For?

If you picked up the sports page this morning or tuned into Sportcenter, you may have observed that my two favorite baseball teams (the Phillies and the Cubs) were eliminated from playoff contention last night. What a bummer!

This leaves me with an interesting dilemma. Who should I cheer for now to win the World Series? I can’t cheer from the Rockies or the Diamondbacks since they just beat my two favorite teams. I’m not really a Yankees fan. After all, they have an unfair advantage with all that money they spend on their players. It doesn’t look good for the Angels who are down two games to the Red Sox. So I’m left with the Indians or the Red Sox. Tough decision.

Maybe, I should just get ready for the NBA season. It should be starting soon. Let’s go Sixers (and Bulls)!

Until the next post…

Worth Celebrating

Sunday afternoon, I was hooting and hollering in the family room as I celebrated the Phillies game and National League Eastern Division Championship. Monday, I was reading in Psalms and I was reminded about what is really worth celebrating. Here’s the passage below.

Psalm 97:1-12
1 GOD rules: there’s something to shout over! On the double,
mainlands and islands–celebrate! 2 Bright clouds and storm
clouds circle ’round him; Right and justice anchor his rule. 3
Fire blazes out before him, Flaming high up the craggy
mountains. 4 His lightnings light up the world; Earth,
wide-eyed, trembles in fear. 5 The mountains take one look at
GOD And melt, melt like wax before earth’s Lord. 6 The heavens
announce that he’ll set everything right, And everyone will see
it happen–glorious! 7 All who serve handcrafted gods will be
sorry– And they were so proud of their ragamuffin gods! On your
knees, all you gods–worship him!
8 And Zion, you listen and take heart! Daughters of Zion, sing
your hearts out: GOD has done it all, has set everything right.
9 You, GOD, are High God of the cosmos, Far, far higher than any
of the gods. 10 GOD loves all who hate evil, And those who love
him he keeps safe, Snatches them from the grip of the wicked.
11 Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people,
Joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil. 12 So, God’s people,
shout praise to GOD, Give thanks to our Holy God!

Kind of puts things in perspective. Doesn’t it?

Until the next post…

NL East Champs

Can you believe it? The Phillies are the winners of the National League Eastern Division. Wow, was it exciting at our house yesterday. Even the kids and the dog were getting into the celebration as the Mets fell apart and the Phillies hammered the Nationals. The whole team played a role in this victory. Jimmy Rollins was unbelievable on the base paths with two stolen bases and his 20th triple of the season. Ryan Howard added another home run and three more RBIs to his league leading collection. Local talent, Jamie Moyer, pitched 5 1/3 innings of 1 run baseball. Carlos Ruiz took one for the team when he went to first after getting beaned. J.C. Romero pitched two solid innings in relief. I could go on. More than anything, the fans at the stadium were so energetic. It’s great to see meaningful baseball back in town.

Phillies Phever

Can you believe it? The Phillies are in sole possession of first place in the National League East Division. With two games to go. This Phillies can clinch with two wins or one win and a Mets loss or two Mets losses.

I’ve been a Phillies fan since I moved to the Philadelphia area in 1980 and the Phillies won there last World Series. Since 1980 (besides 1983 and 1993) the Phillies haven’t given us much to cheer about. Well, I am hopeful that this is about to change.

The excitement in our area is unbelievable. I hear everyone talking about the Phils. In fact, more people are talking about the Phillies right now than the ever popular Philadelphia Eagles.

What makes this even better is that the Mets are imploding. They were seven games ahead of the Phillies just two or three weeks ago, and they are now a game behind the Fightin‘ Phillies.

Let’s see what happens today and tomorrow. Catch the Phever!

Until the next post…