Hockey Takes Over

I started watching hockey a little too early.

This happens a lot. Just as the World Series gets going, I start watching the Wings play hockey. Then it becomes an eternal battle of the "last" button: hockey - click - baseball - click - hockey hockey hockey - click - bas - click!

The World Series has to be pretty compelling for me to switch back and stick with it for two innings in a row while the hockey game's on. This year is no exception, and I'm having a harder time staying with the Series than I thought I would. Tonight I'll bet that I only watched one solid inning from top to bottom. The rest was a fit inducing carnival of channel surfing.

I thought I'd be more into the World Series this year because it is the first time the Rays have a shot at winning the title. Not so. It would have been a far better story line if the Red Sox and Dodgers had won, so we could see Manny getting booed like crazy in Fenway. Still, it was nice seeing the Red Sox lose and not even make it.

I'll keep rooting for the Rays, but I'm back in Wing Land and that's how it's going to stay.

Anyway, Philly won tonight. They're up 2-1 in the series.

Photo: Yahoo Sports

Phillies Win Game 1

The Phillies took game 1 of the World Series in what was a pretty pedestrian game. No big highlights, a couple of errors, and some pretty poor hitting. It was easy to flick over to see how the Red Wings were doing and forget that the baseball game was still on (Red Wings won).

The Phillies should be happy with the win in Tampa, but the Rays can take some comfort in knowing that the Phillies have trouble driving in runs. Philly managed 8 hits and 6 walks, but left a whopping 22 men on base. While watching the game, I was thinking, "If the Phillies could hit when it counts, they'd be up by 10."

Tampa might have their own troubles in that department, at least as far as BJ Upton goes. He's been the Rays' slugger all post-season, but tonight he went 0-4 and left 5 men on while hitting into two double plays. He needs to get his groove back, or Tampa will lose the series in 4 or 5.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.