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Sports, to put it nicely, are hard to figure out.
Sometimes sports can be really stupid (sorry, Red Sox and Dodgers fans) and sometimes sports can be really beautiful (good morning, Astros and Braves fans).
One second you think you know it all and can see how everything is going to play out and the next you’re sitting there on your couch watching the Houston Astros breaking open another game on the road and seizing control of an ALCS that just the other day seemed so darn predictable.
I’m talking, of course, about the Red Sox and how good they looked in Games 2 and 3. They were hitting like 38 grand slams and 157 home runs in those two games (my stats may be a bit off there but you catch my drift) and everything seemed to be pointed in Boston’s way… and not even close to going Houston’s way.
Then Game 4 started and Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run bomb that led to a priceless reaction by Houston pitcher Zack Greinke and gave Boston another lead that everyone figured would just continue to grow. After all, it was their 21st homer in just 9 playoff games and it seemed like this wild hot streak was just going to continue. Why would it not!?
Because sports are stupid and beautiful, duh.
That was the last lead the Red Sox have had in this series, as they’ve dropped the past two games at home by a combined score of 18-3. A bad call by the home plate ump in Game 4 didn’t help things for Boston but the way things have gone you have to think the Astros would have found a way to take control of Game 4 even if that didn’t happen.
This is what makes sports so fun and different from anything else we might watch – anything can happen at any moment and things can change in a hurry. It’s equal parts glorious (if your team is on the good side of things) and frightening (if you’re on the edge of your couch watching things fall apart for your team). It’s what keeps us up at night wondering why we put ourselves through this but then smiling the next night as hop back on that comfy couch ready for MORE.
Fans in Los Angeles and Atlanta know what I’m talking about. Heck, Charles Barkley knows what I’m talking about. The Dodgers rallied late to stun the Braves in Game 4 on Tuesday and seemed to have momentum on their side but then last night Atlanta went out and crushed the Dodgers, 9-2, to take a 3-1 series lead and suddenly LA is looking at its season possibly coming to an early end tonight.
This is all part of the ride for being a sports fan. We go into each season knowing only one team will win the championship and the odds that it will be our team are usually slim, no matter how many star players you have.
Things happen.
Winning is hard.
Nothing is guaranteed.
Sports are stupid.
Sports are beautiful.
Who knows, maybe the Red Sox win the next two in Houston and go to the World Series.
And maybe the Dodgers win the next three and meet Boston there.
Will those two things happen? Our brains say no, of course not, you idiot – the Braves and Astros got this!
But our hearts, which have been broken a number times, know that anything can happen and we shouldn’t really count out anything or anyone until things are final.
Sports, man.
Quick hits: NFL Week 7 picks against the spread… Did Drake get a NBA player T’d up?… Myles Garrett keeps getting drug tested… And more.
– Charles Curtis has his Week 7 NFL picks against the spread.
– Drake is back sitting courtside at Raptors games in Toronto and it sure seemed like Washington’s Montrezl Harrell got T’d up after yelling at him.
– Browns star Myles Garrett said he’s done going sleeveless because he thinks it keeps leading the NFL to test him for HGH.
– Michelle Martinelli predicts which of college football’s remaining 11 undefeated teams will lose this weekend.
– Mike Sykes looks the issues the Lakers and Russell Westbrook have after their first game of the season the other night.
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