Still Bummed

Ugh my tummy hurts.  I lived in Boulder, CO for a year and never drank as much as I did last night.  My face had an introduction with the floor, but no visible bruise, just great discomfort to my chin.  I told my friends I was going to stay in until I saw the Dodgers finish off the Cubs and advance to the NLCS.  My bracket is jacked up now.  I’m going to be out $5, not so bad, but not so good especially when I had to tell a few of the people who was actually in the postseason and now they are doing better than me. 
My teacher canceled my 6pm-9pm class tomorrow so we could watch Monday Night Football so I’m still feeling upbeat, but as usual I have a stack of homework up to my chin.  Peace out ladies and gents.

–Amy P

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Coloradofiliac

When I broke up with my boyfriend of two years I told him, “I can’t continue to spread my love so thin, I love baseball first and then Colorado, after that I don’t have much left to give.”  I’m feeling pretty heartbroken right now, it is indeed October, but there will be no Rocktober this year.  Now all of us Rockies fans have to sit around for the next few months and hear trade talk about Holliday and Atty.  This should get interesting.

On a side note, I have once again changed my plans.  I am still going to Metro State and studying Sports Industry, but now I’m going to try to graduate in three and a half years then go to umpire school.  This is not a joke, although my parents seem to think it is.  Well, that’s that.

–Amy

Homework or Blogging…hmmm

I’m really hungover.  I need to do homework, but I’m just going to blog instead.  I played beer pong last night and it went into double over time sudden death and my partner and our opponent both hit cups and I was able to blow the ball out of ours and we won in a huge upset.  Then I broke an egg on our neighbors floor and my roommate made me slam some water and go to bed.  I blame the Rockies and Dodgers for all of that.  The magic number is 1.  If the Dodgers win or we lose then we are out.  Neither of those things happened last night so I decided to celebrate it.  I think I’m the only person in Denver hanging onto that single number, luckily my roommate and neighbors will use anything as an excuse to party. 
A year ago this place was electric.  People knew that something was happening, nobody could have predicted that run, but they knew something.  Denver seems to have these sporadic fans, give them something to cheer about and the city will be hoarse by the end of the night.  If you give them something to jeer about and the city will be quiet.  Coors Field was pretty dead the other night, people weren’t excited and the stands weren’t that full.  Baker was a triple short of the cycle, Iannetta hit a grand slam.  I know we are all but officially eliminated.  It’s not about that.  This is our team, it is like a marriage, you stay around through the good and the bad if it really means anything to you.  I just want to see what happens next year when Holliday or Atkins are wearing somebody else’s uniform.  My first love is baseball, my second love is Colorado so I will never waiver on the Rockies, I just get grumpy with them sometimes. 
In other news, Francis is being shut down.  I understand and agree, but still a little bummed. 
I’m going to go clean up the eggs I broke on my neighbors floor.
–Amy P

I’m back with purple running through my veins

So I got a message from Kylie today on my Twins blog and I realized how much I missed my MLB blog.  At some point a fan can put too much into a team and that happened to me, as sappy as that sounds, it is true.  It really began to get to me, watching the guys go out there and struggle and make errors and forget to play small ball.  And since I’m being paid to write about the Twins I tried at refocus my attention onto them.  It’s much to bad because I bleed purple.  I sound like a front runner sell out right now, not the case.  I was just too broken hearted over the Rocks and I want to become a beat writer someday so I shifted my priorities.  But I live in Denver!  I am a Colorado girl straight across the board. 
So, the boys in purple have slipped to 4th in the west and the magic number is 2 before they are out.  I can barely recall how it felt last year, I miss the buzz.  Some days I settle into my window seat and pop in 21 days, the documentary about the Rox winning the pennant last year, and I get that rush of excitement all over again.  Its not even like I am used to the Rockies winning, because I’m not, I just miss that electricity in the air. 
I’ll see if any of that is left tonight.  I bought myself a single ticket to the game.  I love my roommate and neighbors, but we hang out together every night and I need a break from the pabst and the crazy adventures we get ourselves into. 
That is that, I am back for the next couple weeks!
–Amy P
http://twins.sportsbloggingnetwork.com/

Sports Fans Unite!

    Colleges students have facebook, 14 year old girls and creepy old dudes have myspace and now sports fans have diehard101.com.  I was told about this website and I went to check it out.  It turns out that it’s pretty awesome.  I’m now a sanctioned blogger for diehard101.com, I write about the Minnesota Twins, unfortunately the Rockies were already taken.  It’s a great place and I urge everyone to check it out.  Here is a link to my blog and from there you can get to the site…Twins Blog. 

Fatal Fuentes

    The two most offensively deficient teams go toe to toe in a battle of the bats.  Why is it that whenever the Rockies and the Padres meet it is always so dramatic?  I feel like when it comes to match ups I normally anticipate the Rockies and the Dbacks to be the best one in the NL West.  Normally I feel like that is the team that we have bad blood against, but something new is beginning to ensue.    
    Lets take this one back several months to the last time the Padres were at Coors Field.  It was the 163rd game and we won it 9-8 in extra innings in the most dramatic fashion, no person could have designed such a game.  Then we fast forward to April 17th, struggling Jeff Francis matches Cy Young winner Jake Peavey pitch for pitch and our bullpen does a tremendous job to help us win in the top of the 22nd inning, six hours and some odd minutes from when the game began.  And then we are back in present time.  We are facing the worst team in the worst division, barely ahead of them by half a game.  We managed to get 8 runs off of 9 hits in the first 5 innings.  Finally we were capitalizing when guys were getting on base, Iannetta got a base clearing double, Hawpe took one deep with two guys on and we have a 5 run lead.  5, count it, 5, that is quiet the hill to climb, it is a grand slam plus another knock.  The Padres didn’t climb that hill, they just tunneled through it.  They faced an all star closer and took 7 runs off of him.  Then they just added a few shots, just for the fun of it. 
    It wasn’t bad defense, it wasn’t horrible pitching, it wasn’t a silenced offense.  What the hell was it?  There is no way that the Padres could have just conquered us like that, it’s not really their style.  I am confused and devastated.  It has now been well over a week since I have been able to celebrate a Rockies win.  Now that we are past the halfway point we really need to start raking in some wins.  I’m not concerned with a winning record or postseason dreams.  I just want to feel like every once in a while we are capable of achieving expectations. I think if we ever want to get back to true form then we need to trade Brian Fuentes, move Bucholz or Corpas into the closer role and never ever look back. 

If not today, then when?

    Well we dropped our seventh straight game.  Another losing streak for the Colorado Rockies, defending NL champions.  A year ago we were sweeping the Mets and Yankees on binging on winning streaks.  Now we are just being held together by the fact that the NL West is terrible.  With Arizona coming back to the pack and absolutely nobody meeting expectations we are able to somehow some way only be 9 games behind.  It’s only by the grace of the baseball overlords that this is possible.  After today Arizona is sitting on a .500 record and the rest of us are well below that point.  In any other division Arizona would be third or fourth place and we would be probably 15 or 16 games behind.  Thank you baseball overlords for giving the Rockies a chance.     It is not only hard to stomach seven straight losses, but the manner in which it is being presented is just inhumane.  Just before this skid we were heating up, we won something like six straight series and we had one of the best records in June.  Then we blew that all to crap with another terrible road trip.  We are absolutely terrible on the road this year.  On top of it all is the fact that the last two games were so very winnable.  Last night we rallied back in the top of the 9th to not only tie the game, but also to bring in the go ahead run.  Then the all-star closer, one Mr. Brian Fuentes, came in to close the game, instead he allowed a hit, a walk and a walk off double.  I thought that our bullpen had pulled itself together after having blown so much for us in the early parts of the season.  That was a heart wrenching loss, finally we come up with a rally and we can’t pull it together.  Then today was another rough outing.  Young Greg Reynolds gave up two runs in the first, but we came back in the second with an RBI single from Torrealba and a two run shot over left field from Tulo.  We are 0-2 when he homers.  Then in the fifth Reynolds left with two on and two out and Herges gave up a triple to allow the go ahead run.  Ugh!  They held us hitless from the fifth to the ninth inning.  On the upside of the Herges upset, Grilli and Buchholz each got a hold, so they prove that someone in our bullpen is reliable. 
    The wrap: Francis got a no-decision even though he gave up a grand slam, Greg Reynolds took the loss because Herges allowed the inherited runners to score.  Tulo finally got a homer(2), Helton is still slumping a little bit, but I think he is much better in the two hole than cleanup.  On that note, what if Holliday was  in the two hole and Helton in the three hole?  I think that would be the perfect combination. Now the boys will be returning home for a three game set against the Padres and a four game set against the Marlins.boys.jpg  Lets hope they get their lineup pulled together so they can stop playing magical cleanup hitter. 
    I’m not sure if this is making me feel better or worse or if it is teaching me anything, but I have started keeping score and using a baseball scorecard.  It is pretty fun, I feel like it teaches me more about the other teams players and I have to pay better attention to what is happening.  I like that I am able to see what happens when we break down or begin to tear up the field.  I think when I go to my parent’s house this next week I’ll scan them and then you can see what I’ve been doing.  Well, that is that, I am out of here and on my way to breaking hearts.
    Actually a quick wrap:

  1. Angels had a no-hitter in eight frames, which is not recognized, and they still lost 1-0 to the Dodgers
  2. Oblique strains are seemingly contagious in the Tigers organization
  3. My fantasy team is awesome and completely raking
  4. Willy has been caught twice in the last few days trying to steal
  5. Pacman Jones will always be Pacman to this generation
  6. Why is sportscenter filling itself with tennis and soccer?  More baseball please.

-Signing off-Amy “clear headed for the first time in months” P

Coping in Colorado

    It was just another regular season game.  In 162 games I expect the Rockies to lose.  They are considered a decent team if they lose half of their games.  Why am I so upset?  Why do I get so riled up about this stuff?  I care, that’s why.  I am beginning to believe that I care too much.  This is not a bandwagon fan, getting off when the road becomes bumpy.  This is my life.  All I ever do is watch baseball and I enjoy my life because of that.  However I am worried that I am too invested in baseball and especially the Rockies.  I choose to stay home and watch the game instead of going out with my friends, it is sick.  I am transferring out of CU so I can go to Metro and be a Sports Industry major.  My walls are decorated in Rockies memorabilia, I collect the sports page on a regular basis and I allow my mood to be defined by the way a game is played.  It’s getting too intense.
    This past series against the Royals was of no help to myself either.  We played sloppy, errors and missed opportunities all over the place.  It was hard to watch.  Aaron Cook is still looking for that 11th win, but with the officiating that took place in tonights game he was lucky to only surrender 4 runs, not all earned.  Rough.  It was rough and I don’t even want to get too deep into it.  I’m sad and disturbed.

–Signing off-Amy “confused Colorado fan” P

Quicky

    We just lost to the Royals, 8 to 4.  It was a rough outing for Jeff Francis, he is one away from matching last years 20 first inning runs allowed.  It hurts.  When we are streaking and we lose I don’t take it to bad, but outings like this hurt.  Goddamn they hurt, they make me want a cigarette and I don’t even smoke.  What were we doing tonight?  I love these Rockies.  I am and always will be a fan even if we lose, but sometimes loving something doesn’t always makes you happy.  Earlier in the year we had the excuse that half our team was on the DL.  So why are we still losing?  Look for someone to have a hurt shin tomorrow…I have a bad feeling.

Signing off–Amy P

No Kansas for old men, or me either

    My clothes are sitting in piles on my floor asking to be put back into the closet.  As you can presume, I am not in Kansas City.  I was supposed to head out to Missouri some time in the past 24 hours to go help my aunt and uncle, but I was called off.  My uncle was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.  He stays at home with a daughter and twin boys while his wife works as a physician.  There have been a lot of people coming about and it was thought that I could be of help–cleaning, watching the kids, shuffling through the people coming in and out and so on.  There is still a chance I will be called upon, but for now my uncle is taking his wife and kids on a small vacation so they can get away from everything before he starts treatment and such.  I’m happy that they are doing this because there will be very hard times ahead, but I am bummed that I don’t get to go see the Rockies in KC tonight.
    Speaking of which–the Rockies play in Kansas City tonight!  Jeff Francis is taking the mound, but he will not be taking up a bat.  I’m eager to see who will be the DH tonight.  Baker is swinging a hot bat, Spilborghs has seen reduced playing time although he proves himself time and again and Podsednick has not got much playing time as of late.  I assume that with the activation of Clint Barmes, he will be able to play, but I’m not the Skipper so I really don’t know.  All of these guys have really proved themselves, it is a shame that they don’t all get to see daily playing time.  One guy who is excited even to be playing right now; Tulo.  His terrible batting average is slowly looking better, but he seems a little rusty defensively, he got a throwing error after missing his mark by about 15 feet and losing the ball into the crowd.  It was fun to see Todd joke with him about it later, all of the guys seem to be jeering him and I must admit that I enjoy seeing it.  Garret jeered him the other day after he got his double, he asked him if he wanted the ball back, much like they do for guys when they get their first major league hits.  Colorado is very fortunate to have these guys in our state.
       I am also very fortunate to have found a new group of people for a fantasy team.  I know it seems a little bit late, but my original team was taken over by idiots that I didn’t know and I had to start over.  So I joined a league with MLB Open and I love it.  Here is my new lineup which I think will be good.
    C–Mauer
    1B-Texeira
    2B-Pedroia
    3B-Atkins
    SS-JJ Hardy
    OF-Matt Holliday
    OF-Jay Bruce
    OF-Guillen
    Bn-Willy T, Victorino, Cuddyer, Rowand and Cust
    P*-Red Sox and Yankees
*You get an entire teams pitching staff, it doesn’t individualize it.

    As it is probably apparent, I am still quite flustered.  A lot has been piled up lately.  Boulder is looking like rain, which I hope comes soon and washes all this away.  Here is my wrap; it may look long but its how I’m organizing today.

  1. Does Colorado really want Melo?  I’d like to see a blockbuster trade for him
  2. Shaq hates on Kobe in a nightclub.  What a low.
  3. Hurdle returns to KC where he was projected to be their “phenom,” he didn’t live up to expectations, but I am more than happy with him managing the team.  Keep up the strong work.
  4. Baker had his birthday this past week(27) and he was awarded with his good work-4 homers including an in the parker-as the Bank of America Player of the week
  5. Brad Hawpe had a birthday too(29)
  6. Do people really care about the WNBA?  Whatever
  7. The Dbacks face the Red Sox.  Good news for us, no matter what we do we probably won’t lose any ground
  8. We are only 7 games out!
  9. Who the hell is Adam Jones?  You might as well be Jim Byers.  Who? Exactly.  Don’t bite the hand that feeds you Pacman.
  10. Rockies series of series wins come to an end, but we have created an outstanding rotation on top of an explosive offense so we really have the opportunity to make a run.