So, we got swept.  And I owe Dan dinner.  I only have three things I want to say.

1. Obviously the eight days off hurt more than I ever thought they would.  I think once the intensity level dropped from the long streak of winning, it was very difficult to get spun back up, especially against a team as talented as the Red Sox.  It seemed like they were finally getting their bats moving again in Game 4, when it was obviously too late.  The pitching?  I’m not sure it was ever going to get back to the level it was prior to the break.
2. I’m not embarassed that they lost, and I wasn’t ever upset that they lost.   They did a pretty sweet and historical thing – it upsets me when “experts” continue to claim it was the most lopsided WS in history.  Haven’t three of the last four WS’s been sweeps?  Why is this one any more lopsided, other than a team that went on a historical run to get to the WS had a historical amount of time off between fall baseball games?
3. I hope the ownership group manages to keep the core of the team together.  They’ve made it clear they’ll do their best to retain those that they have control over, but I can’t help but think – specifically in Holliday’s case – that someone else will just be able to offer more money.  Significantly more.

Half of me hopes they keep the mojo alive next season, and half of me wants it to go back to the way it was – a middling baseball team with cheap tickets and nearly free parking.  I figure they’ll have an initial spike in attendance come April, they’ll suck in April like they normally do, and then it’ll be business as usual.

Oh, and I should fully disclose that I got to go to Game 4.  Another “feature” of the ticketing system that I think I mentioned is that once you got in, you could get in repeatedly.  This was true – but also – the URL that the ticket purchasing button kicked you to, the hold page, was never anything more than a hold page.  If you typed in the URL of the actual ticket selling server – you’d go straight to the opportunity to buy tickets, every time.  Great system huh?

Well great for us, because our bandwagon neighbors managed to buy twelve tickets to each of the games in Denver.  The same neighbors that chastized me for wasting my money by going to Rockies games scored World Series tickets.  I’m not all that upset about it since I got to go to a game too, but it shows you (again) how completely ridiculous the ticketing system was.

I didn’t comment the pictures.  I probably should’ve, but I just wanted to get them up on the site quickly.  The low light made for some fuzzy pictures, which was unfortunate.  There was obviously the tiniest Rockie fan in front of us.  At some point I clearly rallied the team by taking off my shirt.  Most of the Boston fans were gracious in victory – each was willing to shake my hand and congratulate us on a good series.  I’m sure there were assholes there – but I didn’t come across any.

It was a great time – I realize how special it is that Anna and I got to go to a World Series game.  You can expect this to be the last baseball post from me for quite some time!