droogoy Well, instead of ratings-whining, FAUX ought to appreciate if it is Cleveland v. Colorado. For baseball purists, and real lovers of the game - flyover Series have been among the best.

There is very little overlap between Fox and "baseball purists, and real lovers of the game."

D Holt King only mentions this point in regards to what Fox TV execs is thinking, but his is just one of a torrent of comments about how "no one wants to watch Colorado" or other small market teams.

I must object here. I've never said no one wants to watch Colorado/etc. I've said that TV execs hate it when Colorado/etc. is the show. I find this amusing, is all. I also find it amusing when the coastal media, including the print media, gets bent out of shape whenever "who cares" flyover teams are in a championship series. And I found this amusing before I moved to flyoverland.

A lot of fans follow the game only through their own team, and they tune out when their team is eliminated, so therefore smaller-market and less-popular teams playing in championship series means fewer poeple watching. Their loss, as far as I'm concerned. I've never complained about the teams involved.

Bob in Pacifica My father was always a good Republican. On his deathbed my dad told me he rooted for the Red Sox because red was his favorite color. Oh.

Was red always associated with Republicans? I thought that whole red/blue thing was a fairly recent phenomenon. I don't remember ever hearing about red vs. blue in political terms before the the last couple of presidential elections. I know the TV networks have used those maps for a long time, but I was never aware they were consistently red=GOP until maybe Bush-Gore.

sgillen1036 know King Kaufman doesn't like the Indians. Just look at his playoff preview where he could barely bring himself to mention the Indians in between discussing how easily the Yankees were going to beat them.

Oh, brother. Here's what I said:

"I'm giving short shrift to the Indians here -- Grady Sizemore! Victor Martinez! Travis Hafner even in an off year! Jhonny Peralta! -- but I think the Yanks are just going to pound them into submission with their bats. Keep in mind, I thought the same thing about the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series."

In other words, I just had a feeling the Yankees would have a big-hitting series and win. And I knew I had a very good chance of being wrong. That doesn't mean I dislike the Indians. I rooted for them against the Yankees, as I root for everyone against the Yankees. This is not a secret.

tylerfaith this question is directed to any rulebook geeks on the board: why doesn't Paul Byrd get called for a balk when does that funky double pump delivery?

Simple reason is because it's not illegal. Here are the (long) balk rules: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/pitcher_8.jsp. Cliffs Notes: The key to what's illegal from the windup position is what a pitcher does with his feet, not his hands.

Basic answer behind why it's not illegal is that there are no base-runners to deceive and it doesn't create a danger to the batter, the way a quick pitch or a spitball, both outlawed, are considered to do. It's really not deceptive at all, since it's so early in the windup. It's just different.

FilthyHarry Hello? You don't watch football?

I do, actually. I subscribe to a service called HourAdder that puts more hours in your day. My days are 29 hours long. It's expensive, $19.95 per extra hour per month, so almost $100 a month for me, but I really think it's worth it.

See http://tinyurl.com/3yqkbk

A lot of us sportswriters have it. That's why so many of us were able to write about two baseball games and a football game last night.

For my piece on the Giants-Falcons game, see http://tinyurl.com/3ahoqy.

Garry Owen What do you have to do to get respect, win every game in regular season and the playoffs too?

Yeah. What's wrong with that? I think the media treatment of the Rockies is approximately appropriate. As KStone points out, the Rockies are being lauded left, right and center. It's the genuflecting at the Yankees/Red Sox types when they do well that's out of whack.

chzwhz King, like you, I first thought Kenny was wagging his finger at Manny, but his expression didn't really back that up. More likely, he was just signing that there was one out in the inning.

I don't think so. The expression, and also he shook his head. I think it was definitely a no-no-no gesture.

It's Berkeley. Three e's in all.

You see, given that the curriculum at Berkley evidently does not include telling time, simple arithmetic or logic, it looks like the Golden Bears won’t be playing for the championship of anything this year.

You seem to be suggesting -- I'm just sure I'm reading you wrong here and we're all going to have a good laugh about it once we clear up the confusion -- but you seem to be suggesting that the quarterback actually ... I'm almost embarrassed to say it because you're going to think I'm such an idiot.

OK here goes: You seem to be suggesting the football players go to class!

Robert Kuntz if the Indians sweep the Sox in the next three at the Jake, then -- let's say -- beat the Rockies in six in the Series, do you think then you might possibly be able to bring yourself to write about them?

Hmm. Would it be possible for them to play the Cal football team in the World Series instead?