Who's It Gonna Be?

Game 6 of the ALCS is scheduled for 7:57 PM tonight, but apparently, rain is falling in NYC. Guess miracle and misfortune come hand in hand (Game 2 was supposed to be rained out, but was played in its entirety last Saturday night).

If this game does get underway, it's going to be Andy Pettitte vs. Joe Saunders. Odds would favour Pettitte, who is the all time winner during the postseason, whereas Saunders is young, inexperienced, and susceptible to the big game jitters. Nonetheless, Saunders has shined this October, posting an ERA of 2.57 (2 points lower than Pettitte). So, it should be an interesting match up.

We've seen some nailbiters in this series. Remember Game 2, when the Yanks walked off in the bottom of the 13th, after about 5 hours of play? Remember Game 3, when it was the Angels who walked off in extras? And remember Game 6 a couple nights ago, when Brian Fuentes walked the bases loaded with two outs and up a run, and finally popped Nick Swisher up on a 3-2 count? Now that's what I love about October baseball!!

Personally, I think the Yankees will take this series. The Angels will NOT win 2 straight on visitor's turf, especially when that turf is Yankee Stadium. As for the World Series, I still think the Yankees will win over the Phillies. But if I could wish for anything in the world, I would wish for a Phillies win. I'm not a Yankees-hater or anything, but I like the Phillies better.

Leafs are still dead last in the entire NHL with 0 wins and just 1 point overall. And I thought the Jays were depressing this season...

Raptors start play on Wednesday. They finished up with a 2-6 record, but it'll be interesting to see how the nagging injuries play out when the season starts. I think they've got a great shot at the playoffs if they stay healthy.

-D

October Baseball

Another post on October baseball.

It's been a fun one so far. The Yankees and Angels are playing in New York right now. Lackey vs. Sabathia. Sabathia has been amazing this post season and with the Yankees up 2-0 already, I think the Yanks have a pretty good chance of taking this one.

It's not the best baseball conditions in New York, but I don't think Robinson Cano's full gear face mask is necessary. It's also spitting some rain-boy, don't you wish you were still watching Dodgers baseball?

Speaking of the Dodgers, they SQUEAKED out a victory earlier today. So that series is tied 1-1. I think that one might go 7. Both teams have great pitching, great power, great running game. My pick would be the Phillies though. JA Happ perhaps buckled under the pressure today, but I think he'll be a star to shine in the future.

-D

Surprise! Surprise!

Cardinals swept!

Red Sox swept!

Could this really be happening?

You better believe it. With a loss to the Dodgers last night, the Cardinals, who were the first to clinch their division no less, was swept out of the NLDS. And with a 7-6 defeat at the hands of the Angels this afternoon, the Boston Red Sox are goin' home as well.

As a Red Sox-hater, the latter situation put a smile on my face. But as the for the former, I was disappointed that the Cards didn't make it past the first round. I wanted to see Pujols in the World Series again.

Twins Yankees tonight. It's going to be a close one I think. They're back in the Metrodome, which will no doubt favour the Twins. But the Yankees have been hot and they've been hot since May. As much as I want to see Mauer and co. advance, I have a feeling the Yanks will hand them a third straight loss.

It's October in Denver. That means snow!! Woot! After a postponement yesterday, the Rockies and Phillies will be back on the field today. The weather's not that better though. It's only 3 degrees Celsius there right now. Talk about cold! Imaging fouling a 90 mph fastball off the end of your bat in that weather...

-D

Rio de Janeiro 2016!

Some were surprised, but I was not.

Besides, when my dad predicts something to be true, you'd better believe it. And a couple weeks ago, he logically explained why Rio de Janeiro was going to be awarded the games. First of all, they were not going to give Europe consecutive games and it was too closely removed from Beijing for Tokyo to win. And seeing how South America had never hosted before, Rio would beat out Chicago in the end.

Of course, that was not the order in which the vote went down. I was very surprised that Chicago was knocked out first. A lot of analysis have been written on this and I'm not going to go into that here. But let me just say to everybody who blames the President for it, if he hadn't gone to Copenhagen, you would be criticizing him for not doing the very same act that you're criticizing him for doing right now. Know that the President at least tried his best and he was going to get heat, no matter what he did. But he is CERTAINLY NOT RESPONSIBLE for failing to bring the games to Chicago.

As a witness to history being made in 2001 as the IOC awarded the games to Beijing, I can honestly say that I know how the people in Rio feel. It's AWESOME!!!!!! To know that the world will come to YOUR country, to YOUR city, to YOUR neighbourhood, that's an incredible statement. Don't get me wrong, the Olympics do have a lot of flaws in them and thsoe flaws won't get fixed all at once, but the big picture is still pretty luminescent and I certainly look forward to the Olympics whenever they come.

Onto baseball, JP is FINALLY gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did a mini dance in my mind when I read that in the papers on Saturday morning. I believe Mr. Anthopoulos, our new, energetic GM is an experienced man, and he will offer a contrast to the JP philosophy (if he ever had one). It'll be interesting what he does with Roy Halladay. Will have to keep watch on that one.

Twins-Tigers one game playoff should be exciting! Remember last time, Rockies vs. Padres?

My pick for the World Series this year: the New York Yankees.

-D

Photo credit: Associated Press

NATIONAL DAY

On this very special October 1, I'm gonna deviate from my usual topic of sports and blog about CHINESE NATIONAL DAY!

Sixty years ago, in 1949, on October 1, at 3 PM, a fellow named Mao Zedong bellowed to the rest of the world: "Today, the People's Republic of China and the People's Government is established!"

I've been looking a lot of clips of that lately 'cause I've been feeling the Chinese spirit. This is the first major National Day celebration (60th) that I've witnessed, though I do vaguely remember the last military inspection on the 50th anniversary in 1999. But as an aspiring political science student, this is my first one that I've watched in context and with background info. Boy, was it ever exciting!

The sheer dominance of colours, people, and technology is amazing. On Tiananmen Square, the coordination of thousands holding up coloured flowers, the measured steps of the flag troopers, the massiveness of the military band. All of it, though staged, was epic in nature! Then, there was the military parade-the inspection of troops and equipment. That was simply humbling-to see so many, so coordinated, marching as one, past that historical part of China.

Nonetheless, a ton of hard work goes into this kind of stuff and it's amazing, even after the Beijing Olympics, what China can produce. After havin witnessed that grandeur, I can't say how PROUD I am to be Chinese.

-D

Weather's Getting Cool

I really don't have much to say this week.

The Jays did alright, won a few games, lost a few. Still 28 games back, and .450 in the win % column. I have said all there is to say about them, so let's move on.

Played some tennis today. I'm absolutely lovin this sport!! There's something about it, despite the repetitiveness, that keeps me on the court. Love it! Love it!

My school's volleyball teams start their seasons next week. That should be exciting. I have a ton of friends on the team and it's always fun to go cheer for them. Can't wait.

-D

I (Heart) Juan Martin Del Potro

When he made the finals of the Rogers Cup, I was pleasantly surprised and wanted to know more about him.

Before he effortlessly cruised through the early rounds of the US Open, I picked Del Potro to face Roger Federer in the final.

When he beat Nadal to fulfill my prophecy, I was starting to like the guy a lot!

And when he outduelled the five-time reigning champion, I fell in love with him.

Think about it. A young, 20 year old, baby-faced Argentinian stud ousted the best player to ever step onto a tennis court. It took 5 sets and just over 4 hours, but Del Potro did it and he did in style. Though I never really expected him to put up much of a fight, I couldn't help but cheer for him towards the end of the match.

And to be honest, I didn't think he had a chance until that 4th set tiebreak, when Del Potro got the crowd roaring with several forehand winners and took the tiebreak convincingly, 7-4.

But you know, as much as I love this young kid from Argentina, my favourite player is still Roger Federer. He was the class act once again, in congratulating Del Potro on his first Grand Slam title. I think now that the pressure of the 14th and 15th titles are off his shoulders, Federer is playing much more relaxed and it showed in his acceptance speech. This time, he didn't shed a tear.

At the beginning of the year, I predicted that Nadal and Federer would share the year's 4 Grand Slams. Federer got the two he wanted, but Nadal's nagging injury kept him from adding more trophies to his mantlepiece. Next year, I think we'll see a whole new dynamic in men's tennis. There are 6 major players-Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Roddick, and now Del Potro who can serve it up any day and win a major.

That should make 2010 an enthralling year!

-D

Photo credit: Olev Volkov

Profanity Galore

"Foot fault!"

That was the call that set Serena Williams on a rampage last night. I was sitting in front of my TV and there she was, swearing and gesturing at a small, innocent line judge. To be honest, it was shocking to see Serena do that. From seeing her at the Rogers Cup and all the interviews on TV, Serena was always a soft spoken, smiling, and nice lady. But last night, the words that were coming out of her mouth-it was just wow! You know what, I can't judge whether that foot fault was the correct call, but I definitely agree that she should have received that point penalty, which just so happened to be match point.

Williams' conduct was certainly inappropriate, but I still think of her as a sportsman. She has always been and I think she was just caught up in the moment. I know how she feels. Sometimes, there are days when it feels like nothing's going for you, when everything and everybody's against you. It's a frustrating feeling, and it can get a hold of your emotions sometimes. I don't blame her. I get uncharacteristically intense when I'm playing sports. It could have happened to anybody, and it was the appropriate consequence in the end.

It sure was interesting, but you gotta give Kim Clijsters credit. I have no doubt she would have taken the match even without that bizarre ending. She was just that good, making Serena run from one corner to the next, almost making Williams trip over herself sometimes. Though the other finalist, Caroline Wozniacki isn't the most famous player in the world, it should be a nice final. You can't have the exact same people win everything all the time right?

Is anybody watching this Nadal-Del Potro match right now? Boy, the Argentine kid is just DOMINATING Rafa. At the beginning of this tournament, I predicted that Del Potro would make it to the final, but I thought it'd be tougher than this. Del Potro's up 6-2, 6-2 and 5-2. That's just incredible. This kid has been something else this summer, and you know what, it makes next year even more exciting. The age of Federer/Nadal is definitely in the decline, and having all these valiant challengers is very exciting to watch.

-D

Photo credits: http://www.ktla.com/media/photo/2009-09/49234928.jpg (Getty Images/Associated Press)

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01479/del_potro_1479375c.jpg (The Telegraph)

**UPDATE**: Juan Martin Del Potro has just disposed Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Incredible match. Incredible play from Del Potro. I'm starting love this guy. And he's only 20 years old!! Lovin' it! Lovin' it!