#1ShaneMackFan

Great stat. Maybe they are a lot of pitchers who would succeed that way now as well, but we'll never know, because no one is allowed to pitch like that anymore.

And those are on top of the goose bumps from the end of the 5th inning where Morris got a huge K and showed the first big emotional response of the night with his own fist pump/arm swing.

I don't care what the stats say. This list isn't complete without Didi Gregorious and Edwin Encarnacion.

Pedro Munoz. I thought he was the next Puckett. I thought with Mack, Puckett, and Munoz, we would have the best outfield in the game for years. He had his moments, but obviously it never really worked out.

Just watched Game 2. It's like a whole different universe. 8th inning and the game is tied. Tapani is still in with runners on 1st and 3rd and 1 out with Gant and Justice up. HE'S STILL IN???!! Today, not only is he no way allowed to pitch in that situation, he was probably pulled 2 innings prior. And he got out of it. What a joy to watch. Leius's home run clears the fence by a couple inches. The crown goes nuts for about 5 minutes. No words spoken by McCarver or Buck the whole time. It is pandemonium and they shut up like they should. It was also great to see every home run led to a curtain call. Leius, Chili, Herbie in game 1 (I missed checking to see if Gagne did it, but he had to considering the rest did. Chili's was a first inning curtain call!) I love that series. I was thinking today of amazing games 3-4 were too, and how excruciating it was to lose. But if we win 1 or both of those, we are robbed of the ultimate drama in games 6-7. In hindsight, it was all worth it. The series was basically perfection.

The Chili home run in game three was one of my favorites, even in a losing effort. That was heart pumping. I think my "favorite" play of all was the 3-2-3 DP in game 7. Herbie's fist/arm pump give me goosebumps every single time. So mush drama and intensity. What does it say about this series that the decoy play and Galdden's double aren't even on the list? Then there are the great Braves plays like the end of games 3-4, Mark Lemke, etc... Simply amazing.

That's how I remember it.

I am sure someone can go into specific details, but that is not how I remember it. I don't remember the Twins letting him go. I remember him going to Japan because of the strike. And that killed me.

Wow. That is amazing.

I'm sure they are. That wasn't the point of my response. The point was to respond to the notion that we "would struggle to beat any ranked team." This team was clearly good enough to compete with and beat ranked teams this year.

Three weeks earlier the Penn State game was the biggest game in our lifetimes. They showed up and played amazing. I'm just not seeing the distinction. They won one and lost one. I was more than disappointed and frustrated against Wisconsin. I'm just focusing on the big picture. The Minnesota Gophers went 10-2 and completely dominated half their Big Ten games. I rewatched the game last night. They got blown out in the fourth quarter. That was a game for three quarters. They showed up. Unfortunately the coaches didn't. They coached differently than every game this year. I am at a loss to understand why. I have no big picture concerns about Fleck, but I cannot believe how he coached that game.

But they beat Penn State. How is that different from Wisconsin? They were also more than competitive at Iowa. They blew it, but were easily competitive. Also, they blew out Wisconsin at their place just a year ago. Let it go. It was one game. It completely sucked, but that's sports. If you can't see how good they were and where they are headed, then go root for someone else. If you actually take a serious look at the teams outside of the top 3, you see they are all about the same. They all have warts. They all play similar schedules. And they all can beat each other on a given day.

Gameday is coming. 10" of snow possible. BT West on the line. Playoffs still possible. This. Is. Epic.

It's not over. Lots of fun left. Playoffs are still in play by running the table. People who jump off right away have no idea what is happening here. Morgan better not be out though. That would probably end all dreams.

I've had YTTV for almost 2 years. It has never once "broken down." It was the best decision I ever made as far as entertainment. People who haven't cut the cord need to take a breath and look into it. It is so easy, and it is as good or even better than when I had DirecTV.