Pick your Playoffs

[Kenrick]

Now that's some good smack-talk. :)

Apparently, Furcal needs to face jail time more often. Motherfucker is usually a dinky hitter.

Just speakin' the gospel truth. ;)

And yeah, if you were faced with going to jail and getting gangraped after your playoffs end (what kind of doublestandard bullshit is that?), you'd wanna amp up your play a notch too.

[SirBruce]

I think Houston and Atlanta are both just trying to draw the series out as long as possible to put off being humiliated and crushed by St. Louis. :)

Bruce

[Kenrick]

You're mostly right about St. Louis, but the Astros certainly aren't trying to lose.  They have a major long-term axe to grind with these Braves, and I think you could see some serious fireworks in MMP this weekend.  God help the Braves if they have to face Clemens again and he gets a large enough lead to play vengeance.

[Paelos]

Hell I'd love Clemens to throw at somebody. That guy's a posterchild for a suspension with his track record. You think that would fly in the postseason?

I'll raise a glass tonight for the Braves dashing your wildcard comeback in your house.

[Kenrick]

Shows how much you know about baseball.  No, a hit batsman would not get him suspended, unless 1) there had been previous scuffles in the game, 2) the benches had been warned, and/or 3) the HBP was obviously intentional.  Nothing wrong with a little breaking ball that doesn't break and *oops* hits Andruw on his smug little ass.  Please, become learned.

[Paelos]

We plunked Beltran already Mr. Learned, it doesn't just have to be in the same game and you know it.

[Kenrick]

Keep digging your hole, mate. :)

[Shaftoe]

it doesn't just have to be in the same game and you know it.

Pretty sure I've never seen a game where someone got ejected immediately for retaliating for a previous game's incident.  If that were allowed, the Red Sox and Yankees would play with a permanently enforced warning.  Now what fun would that be?

When it is convenient for Houston, someone will avenge Beltran.

[Shannow]

Mr Ortiz says 'Ardent, Nebu and Paelos...you're out!'

Bring on the yankees

[Nebu]

Mr Ortiz says 'Ardent, Nebu and Paelos...you're out!'

Damn good thing I didn't quit my day job to become a sport's book in Vegas.  

Good luck to the rest of you!

[Margalis]

Damn good thing I didn't quit my day job to become a sport's book in Vegas.  

Good luck to the rest of you!

You thought the Angels would win?

In my mind, the Angels were the one AL team with no shot. Their starting pitching is nothing like it was a couple years ago, when both Washburn and Ortiz had career years. Now Ortiz is in the pen and Washburn is responsible for losing the final game with one pitch. (Or was it two?)

Their roster was ugly, about a third of the guys in their lineup appeared to be minor leaguers. The game is on the line and the Angels have 3 guys coming up that I've never even heard of before...

I gave the Twins a shot to win the first round because of Santana, and had they left him in it still might have worked.

Round 2 should favor the Sox, with Schilling/Pedro topping any 1/2 punch the Yankees have. Still, I'm a New Yorker so I'm going with the Yankees...A-Rod with the series winning walk-off home run, that would be nice.

[Nebu]

You thought the Angels would win?

The beautiful thing about baseball is that winning a shade more than half of your games can get you into the playoffs.  I didn't think the Angels were all that great, but it's a lot more fun to root for the longshot.   I picked and missed.  

You're correct in your assessment of their talent. I can't argue with you at all.

[SirBruce]

But the same is true of the NFL and the NBA.

The NFL is the most fun, really, because there is true parity thanks to the salary cap, and since their are so few games, injuries and luck play a much larger role in a team's success than in, say, baseball, where the sheer length of the 162-game season has rendered almost everything a matter of pure statistics.  With the NFL, it's a lot easier for a "weak" team to get to the playoffs... but because of parity they aren't that much weaker, and because even the playoffs are one-game contests, they have a decent shot at winning it all.

Bruce

[Kenrick]

I hope furcal gets raped so hard in prison.

[SirBruce]

Well, I called 3 out of the 4 series so far, and the one that hasn't been decided yet was oneof the others I said would be close.

I kinda hope the Braves win, because the Cards arguably have a better chance of beating them than the Astros.  But the Astros are the better team.

Bruce

[Shannow]

But the same is true of the NFL and the NBA.

The NFL is the most fun, really, because there is true parity thanks to the salary cap, and since their are so few games, injuries and luck play a much larger role in a team's success

Or if your team is called the Patriots.:)

God help us if we are inflicted with the Braves for another series.

Oh and if Arod hits the game winning HR in the ALCS I'll gouge my eyes out with a spoon. A rusty spoon.

[Paelos]

Awww, so much Braves hate, and we're such a nice team :)

Anyway, we all realize Houston's manager was the reason for the loss, so if you lose the series, feel free to run him out on a rail.

[Kenrick]

Okay, I just hope the Astros give the Cards a good series.  I'm not expecting to get past them, but hopefully it'll at least be exciting.

By the way, where's that braves guy?

[SirBruce]

Sigh, it's such a burden when you're right almost all the time. :)

Bruce

[Kenrick]

Indeed.

[Paelos]

Wow, that was bad, and in typical Braves form to give us hope only to be dashed at the end. Ah well, have fun playing the Cards, I'm sure that's not the only 12-3 you'll see again.

Now its time to retreat back to my Yankee-hating.

[Shannow]

Sox in 5.
Cardinals in 6.

[Ardent]

Astros vs. Braves - Astros
Cardinals vs. Dodgers - Cardinals
Yankees vs. Twins - Yankees
Red Sox vs. Angels - Angels

3 for 4 isn't bad for someone like me who is usually full of shit.

I'll stick with my original Series prediction, Yankees vs. Cards.

[HaemishM]

I've unstickied this one, and made a new sticky topic for Championship Series picks.