Joy in Mudville
Well, the Mets did it last night. Rookie pitcher John Maine beat the Cardinal's ace and the Mets won the game 4-2. How cool is that? Anyway, the NLCS deciding game seven is scheduled tonight at 8PM. Niether Maine nor closer Billy Wagner pitched things of beauty, but the both got it done, as did Cory Bradford and Aaron Heilman.

Are the Mets going to do it tonight? I hope so. History shows the odds to be good in this situation. Click here for the preview that has this little item:

The Mets have this streak in their favor: The past 11 home teams that won Game 6 of an LCS or World Series to stave off elimination have won Game 7, too. The last time a home team dropped Game 7 after winning Game 6 was the 1975 World Series, when Boston lost to Cincinnati's Big Red Machine.

Alas, there's also this:

The Cardinals, however, have this going for them: No team in major league history has won more do-or-die Game 7s than the Cardinals, who are 9-4 in those instances.

Reflecting on all of this, I'm just happy that we have a fighting chance of getting to the World Series. That is, after all, all that a fan could ask for. Have your team be competitive. Play with some heart. And give us a chance to go to the big game. As far as I'm concerned, the Mets have done all of these things this season, whatever the outcome is tonight. Don't get me wrong, I certainly want to win, but I'm not going to trash the team if they don't.

In other sports news, there was an interesting statement made by Giants RB Tiki Barber yesteday. From Yahoo Sports:

"I've been considering it (retirement) for a few years now," Barber said. "It comes to a point where your body just doesn't want to take it anymore, you see other opportunities out there. I'm excited about the rest of my life as well as I am about this football season. So we'll see what happens.

"I don't think there are any definites in life. It's too early in the year to say it for sure. But I'm leaning toward it, for sure."

While it would be a loss for football, I think Tiki is right to retire if he wants to. Too many Hall of Fame running backs (and I most definitely put Tiki in that category) end up limping up to the podium with a cane when they're inducted. It's happening right now to Curtis Martin. It shouldn't happen to Tiki too. Tiki Barber is an amazing guy. He writes childrens books. He's very well spoken and interesting. He could and should do whatever makes him happy.

In other football news, a threat to explode a dirty bomb at several football stadiums this weekend has the FBI working. DHS has dismissed the threat as non credible, but you can read more about the investigation here.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:44 AM