I bleed red and blue

I would imagine most people are surprised and perhaps even saddened to find nary a post to date about the amazing World Series run and eventual championship put on the board by the Cardinals. My apologies. I have been too busy watching to put into words my thoughts and feelings on this blog.

I suppose I should start off by saying I am a big-time sports nut, and since moving to St. Louis in 2003 I have fallen in love with the baseball Cardinals. To St. Louisans, the Cardinals ARE St. Louis- the team is ingrained into the fiber of this fair city. You really are not a true citizen of St. Louis unless you root for the Cards. So it's easy to fall in love with the Cardinals here. I didn't need much prodding.

With that said, I will admit that it is difficult for me to write about what the last month has been like for me. How do you describe to someone the feeling that comes with investing so much time and energy into something, and then to have that time and energy rewarded in the most gut-wrenchingly wonderful way imaginable? Normally, you "root, root, root" for the home team to the tune of 162 games, only to have your rooting thwarted by some other team and its fans who advance to the post-season. But for St. Louis, our team actually made it into the playoffs, so the rooting continued.

From day 1 the Cardinals were considered the worst team in the playoffs. Most of the experts figured we would be lucky to win one game against the Padres in the first round. With those expectations in mind, I cheered as we won the first 2 in San Diego. And when my buddy and I went to game 4 here in St. Louis, we went crazy as the Cards sealed the deal and took the series to advance to the NLCS.

Against the Mets, though, we were again told by the experts that we hadn't a prayer. The Mets line-up was too powerful, and our pitching wasn't that great. What's worse, we had just pitched Carpenter in the last game of the NLDS so our rotation couldn't line up as we would have hoped. And yet, as game 1 approached, you could feel something magical brewing in St. Louis. After 2 years in which our team won 100+ games during the regular season and we were expected to compete for and perhaps win the World Series only to fail both times, this 2006 team was the underdog. And the moniker and low expectations suited us just fine.

I was there for games 3-5 in St. Louis. I watched as Suppan shut down the Mets in game 3, as Reyes got torched and we lost game 4, and as the "Dream" Weaver lifted the team back up in game 5. Watching game 7 at home - one of the two greatest games I have ever seen (the other being game 6 of the 2002 World Series between the Angels and the Giants) - and seeing Rolen's homerun brought back by Endy Chavez and then Molina hitting his blast in the 9th....it was unreal. And then for Wainwright to strike out Cardinals killer Carlos Beltran...man, the goose bumps are out just typing it.

And then finally the World Series and the epic ride to the championship. All along, as a fan, I am pouring my heart and soul and energy and passion and TIME into this team. I am going with friends to the home games, and watching the away games on the big screen at home; I am wearing my red stocking cap and gloves in the house because I think they are lucky (and they are, for the record); I am watching post-game press conferences; I am having a hard time concentrating at work; and I am fighting those "negative" demons after every loss.

And then to have all that work itself out in the most positive way possible; for all that energy to be rewarded with a World Series championship! Again, it is almost too much to describe.

So I apologize because I probably could have written more at the time, and it probably would have been better, but it was difficult to describe and in some ways still is. Bottom line is I will be happy until at least April 1 and the start of the 2007 season!