I am watching the Rockies play in game 3 of the NLCS. They are leading the series 2-0 and winning the game 4-1. If they win this I think they’ll have won 20 of the last 21 games. Pretty incredible.
There have been some complaints about the Rockies getting a couple generous calls by the umpires, the standout being Holliday’s slide into home plate in the one-game playoff against the Padres. In all footage of the slide it looks like Holliday’s hand was aimed for the right side of home plate but it collides with the foot of the Padres catcher, who was blocking the plate. You can’t tell for sure if Holliday touches home plate, but you can tell for sure that the catcher is blocking it. This is key. Why? Because catchers cannot block home plate when they are not directly fielding the ball. By the time Holliday slid into home, or tried to, the ball was nowhere near the catcher but he stood there blocking it anyways. This is against the rules. Bad Padre, bad.
Apparently, the Rockies have gotten a few more generous calls. I haven’t seen them all, but I did see the one last night where Matsui was clearly not safe after a super slow-mo playback. The commentators were quick to point out the Rockies streak of luck. Likewise, I think it will take the Rockies 3-0 record in this series to get a somewhat respectable view in the sports media. Prior to tonight a lot of the sportswriters and commentators out there were referring to the Rockies as an anomaly, or not referring to them at all. They would say that the Rockies streak is due to luck, not of talent coming together in a cohesiveness that is shocking to see in any sports team, let alone the 2007 Rockies.
Yeah, the Rockies are a Cinderella team right now, but they should still get the benefit of the doubt. For example, when the Rockies get a break on a call the announcers shouldn’t act like the Umps are in on it. If it was any other team with a lot of playoff experience that was on their way to win their 20th game out of 21 games, say, the Yankees, you would only hear a peep about those lucky breaks. No one would chalk them up to be the reason for the Yankees' hot streak.
Go Rocks. I am on the bandwagon.
1 comment:
Welcome. I am convinced after many years playing competitive sports that a good amount of luck is needed to win. Things do need to go your way, in addition to talent, team chemistry, etc. It's just part of the equation.
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