Most of us are diehard Rockets fans too... and for me, I actually only really got into baseball (and all its history, stats, nuances) the last 8 years... the Rockets/Oilers were the first teams I really rooted my heart out for. That being said... I wish the rest of the nation cared as much about the NBA as they did about MLB, NFL, or even College sports. Its especially troubling to know that the Rockets are gonna be reaching their prime while the overall popularity of the game is declining. Rooting for the Astros as a city was more than just "winning one for Houston"... it was about getting a title for this city, on a national stage that this city has never really been on (including the Rockets days). In this day and age, where baseball and football are kings, it would have been the ultimate feat.
yeah man, I wish more people got into the NBA. I don't want to get into it too much but I think it all comes down to being a race issue. For me, seeing 6'8 athletes run up and down the court 40-50 times a game and yam on people, shoot 3's, handle the rock, play 1on1 defense, throw crisp passes, etc... is a whole hell of a lot more enjoyable than some fat guys taking steroids, sporting a gutt, being completely out of shape, and striking out every other time at bat. The excitement and athleticism isn't there in baseball and I just don't get it. Thats why god made us all different I guess. But nonetheless it does suck for the city of houston. I'm not a hockey fan by no means, but was happy when the aeroes won it, event though I wasn't watching much of the games, I was till pullin for the stros.
Great season, 'Stros. You sure gave us our monies worth. Sad to see us swept but damn if we weren't in every game and damn if every game wasn't exciting the whole way through. I tip my hat to the Sox who did what they had to do to get the W in each game. I hope to hell Rocket comes back. Maybe they can let him START the season in July.
Baseball has tradition going for it... and a lot of those guys are more athletic nowadays than most other athletes... the days of the "completley out of shape" ballplayer are all but over (minus Berkman). Also, I doubt that this nation's overall indifference to the NBA is due to race or the game of b-ball itself.... because they still go crazy for College Basketball all season, and especially in March. Frankly, I think the NBA has a player ego/image problem that doesn't have to transcend race. Also, the league was fine with the image of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan... somehow, its not doing well with the image of Lebron James (in Cleveland) and Kevin Garnett (in Minnesota).
I think it's more like the image of Kobe "I didn't do it" Bryant [LA], Allen "practice" Iverson [Phi], Ron "oops I did it again" Artest [Ind]. Lebron and Garnett have actually done a lot to improve the image of the NBA.
I agree White Sox is indeed the best team this season. They started the season with a 1-0 win and held a lead during the game in their first 37(?) games, a major-league record. They went wire to wire and had the best record in the league from day one to the last. They won all 6 road playoff games, after sweeping Cleveland in Cleveland when Cleveland was fighting for playoff lives. They are really good, but most of us or the media weren't ready to understand they are suddenly so good, and when Cleveland made that run to cut the 15-game lead to 1.5, people finally found a reason to jump all over them. I think the September push really prepared White Sox for their playoff run. Both in the Angels and Astros series, I had that sense of inevitability, where no matter what the situation was, the feeling was it would go Sox' way.
You guys are forgetting that the pitching blew leads in two games, game 3's 4-0 lead and game 2's 4-2 lead. We knew the offense sucked, the St.louis series we were like what 3 for 36 with runners in scoring position. I don't know what it is but the breaks we were getting in the other two series were completly gone in the WS. I don't even know how the hell this team beat St. Louis in the first place. The Wsox had those breaks throughout the post season. However, baseball is a game of luck. There are strange and mysterious reasons why the Red Sox and White Sox won it the last 2 years after long agonizing years, just like the Marlins winning it in the only 2 years they have been to the playoffs, just like the Cubs never getting a break, and just like how since the Yankees have increased the payroll every year they can't win one.
don't forget about DEFENSE, the third critical aspect to winning a world series. in some ways pitching is only as good as a teams defensive ability to make outs or protect the home plate all the way from the outfield. there also managing/coaching and CHEMISTRY to take into consideration. when individual players and coaching staffs truly win and lose as a TEAM instead of blaming each other, they can build each other up and come back from bad games and be effective the next game individually and collectively. Jenks and Uribe come to mind. and of course there's CLUTCH hitting and pitching as well as mental strength, the never giving up and always fighting mentality or HEART that champions have. think of all the times the Sox made critical hits and homers with two outs or even two outs and two strikes. Konerko's grand slam, Posednik's homer, Blum's homer, Dye's single. i've never seen a team so dangerous when they had two outs, RISP or no RISP. talk about refusing to die. on the flip side, they had that killer instinct when it was their turn to close it out, RISP or no RISP. playing to win instead of playing not to lose. when the Stros had two outs, you could practically stick a fork in them. it was just time to lie down and die. fans would be crossing their fingers and praying in the stands. it wasn't up to them. you can talk all you want about breaks, but that wasn't the difference between the two teams. i remember in '96, the Bulls played against the Knicks in a close series where they won 4-1. most of the games were decided by just a few points. according to Ewing, a bounce here or a call there could have made all the difference. please, there was no doubt in my mind who the better team was, or who was in complete control of the series. that's the key. great teams create and control their destiny. of course i'm comparing two totally different sports. basketball's more about momentum, baseball's more about opportunity. but ultimately, it comes down to will. who breaks down first and makes the mistakes? who remains alert and capitalizes on them? i guess one could even compare it to chess.
Wow, what a season. The Astros made me proud to be a fan and even though they come up short it was a heck of a ride. The Sox were the better team, but it does hurt that each game was so close and they only scored 6 more runs then we did over the entire series. There are lot of "ifs: to this this series, but in the end the better team won. I cant wait for next year
I didn't scroll through the rest of the thread that was posted during and after the game. I'm too depressed. I'll get over that, but I'm still steaming about Houston being forced to open the roof. The Astros may not have won if it had been closed (how will we know?), and sent the Series back to Chicago, but I'll never forget how angry it has made me. I may have lived in Austin the last 25 years, but I still bleed for the Astros and the Rockets, like I did for the Oilers. I tip my hat to the White Sox. They are a better team than the Cardinals we faced, and beat, and they fought hard for the victory, and deserve all the credit due. I will never stop believing that we could have beaten them, had some players stepped up, like Backe did last night. That brings me to the one thing about last night's game that really burns my butt... why in the hell, with Backe pitching like he was, did Garner lift him so Bagwell could pinch hit? I was literally screaming at the TV. It was an incredibly stupid move. There. I got that off my chest. Congratulations, Astros, for turning what was well on it's way to being a horrific season to one that was magical for those of us who have followed you since you were the Colt 45's, and the Dome was a hole in the ground. We have a great group of young players, and we will be in the thick of things next season. I'm proud of the team, and of the fans who packed the Juice Box.
I feel so bad for Backe. The guy pitched the game of his life, and the Astros had won that game his stock would have soared. Now his performance will be largely forgotton. I can't totally disagree with the decision to lift him, though. I don't know if I would have done that but I do understand. The previous inning Backe allowed runners to get to 2nd and 3rd, and that was definitely a scare. He'd also gone more innings than normal, and the game was winding down, and somebody had to come through offensively for us. At that point it wasn't like Wandy was going to be coming in for Backe, it was Lidge. Lidge had just pitched an amazing two innings the night before, so it would seem reasonable to think that trend might continue. Pulling the pitcher needs to come before not after he's too worn out to keep getting the other side out. I'm not going to say I would have pulled him had I been the manager, but I can understand why somebody would pull Backe at that point. Anyway Backe had an amazing game and his time on the mound was more dominating than any of our other starters in the WS. Backe definitely deserves way more appreciation than he's been getting.
