Just landed in Tucson for my connecting flight. Guy next to me on the plane was watching field of dreams. It's meant to be tonight

ChoppinDs40 said:

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Muy said:

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Carlo4 said:

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Zachary Klement said:

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Super bummed that Adolis is out. His run this postseason has been so special...it would have been awesome to see a guy go from being DFA and traded for cash considerations to WS MVP.

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He will just have to settle for the all time single postseason RBI record.

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This. And as incredible as Adolis has been, I still think Seager will get it.

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Doli's HR in Game 1 doesn't happen without Seager's 2-run moonshot in the bottom of the 9th.

Cookie monster is destroying Arizona right now... why they're still pitching to him is a mystery. That being said, he has homered off a fastball, changeup and slider... sooo

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Exactly. Not knocking Adolis' walk-off, but Seager's 2 run bomb in the 9th to tie it up was legendary.

DallasAg 94 said:

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Zachary Klement said:

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I just pulled up the year-by-year ratings for the WS, NBA Finals, and SB.

The WS and NBA Finals generally seem to be steadily declining...SB viewership had been down since 2017 but saw a spike last year.

I wonder if interest in sports is just declining as a whole or if more people are turning to illegal/free streams.

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Interest is declining is one aspect. None of the young men I know watch or play traditional sports.

For my boys, the guys who played sports are on a whole new level of *******. The fun is driven out early. One of my boys was playing on a 7-8 year old team. These kids were turning double plays and would yell at other players if they flubbed a ball or struck out. If you look at the Astros game thread, that is what the kids and parents looked like.

I coached a 2nd-3rd grade team and one of my parents told me how embarrassed she was at what the other team's parents were saying about me. Calling me a cheater and other terrible things. Oh... this was a church league and the other parents were among the leaders I knew of this Mega-Church. Our kids went to school together at a private school. My kids know classmates who are now players in the NBA and MLB. They see how athletes treat each other and how they bully non-athletes, and how teachers show favoritism towards star athletes. They want no part of it.

None of my kids have watched a single inning of Post-Season baseball. Probably one of the reasons I post on here.

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I know what you mean and see it all the time with my similarly aged boys and their sports in Austin. But the parental behavior is an indictment of how society has changed over the last twenty years. Adults no longer have friends, so they wrap their identity up in their children and their performances, no matter how unfair it is to the child. That's why they personally lose their minds when their child fails.

Same thing with Aggie football, or really anything else. Our identity becomes A&M when we invest soooooo much time into the school, so when the team loses, we get angry or depressed and take it personally.

Teslag said:

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If the Rangers win one of the next three Dallas will become only the 8th city to win a Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series, and Stanley Cup.

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How many cities have teams in all four sports? Nine?

Zachary Klement said:

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aggrad02 said:

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Also streaming/on-demand/cord-cutting probably doesn't help.

I remember before streaming if I had a free evening and was scrolling through channels, I might watch a championship game of a sport or team I didn't follow, just because it was the best option of what was available at the moment live out of maybe 100 options.

Now there are seemingly unlimited options and if it is not your favorite sport or team, there are way better options.

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Another thought is Bally Sports and blackouts on YouTube TV/other popular TV streaming platforms must have taken a massive toll on fan interest in those sports.

Say what you will about the NFL, but they have definitely gotten it right by making local teams available to local fans.

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I agree completely, I live in New Orleans and get Ranger games blacked-out continuously… I am 11 hours away what do they expect of me.

First post on this thread, but I've been a bit of lurker the past few months. I'm hesitant to spill here, but in the end I've so much enjoyed reading everyone's stories about what a Rangers win would mean to them, it got me thinking ... so here I am.

Back in 2017, I suddenly lost my best friend of 35 years - suddenly doesn't really do it justice. A few buddies and I were on a random trip to catch a meaningless Cubs game at Wrigley, and he literally died on his flight. As much as my dad taught me to love baseball, we have a thousand other things that mean just as much between us. But this guy ... this guy was baseball to me. When I lost him, I turned my back on baseball.

I am a Rangers fan, to say the least. I did summer internships with the club instead of getting a "real job" - the first one being in that magical summer of 1996 (damn the back-end of that bullpen!), I never missed an Opening Day from 1997-2017, I worked at The Ballpark for 10 years after school, and then was a season ticket holder after that once I couldn't get in for free any longer. All that changed in 2017, and baseball became non-existent.

At the start of this season, I could have only named you 3 guys on the roster - and that's only because they were such newsworthy signings the past couple of years. I bet from 2017-2022, I maybe watched a total of nine innings collectively in those 7 seasons. I didn't care any more, and I never knew exactly why. Just thought I got old and had other things to do.

I was on a short trip with some friends back in August, and one of those guys basically forced us to watch a game ... and it just clicked again. Almost like a recovering addict who's been clean for 7 years but took one innocent hit and relapsed. The past couple of months have brought on a wave of different emotions and demons to exercise - at the same time I'm reconnecting with how much baseball and the Rangers mean to me, I guess I'm working through some stuff going back to 2017.

Not sure why I'm posting all this - maybe it's just more therapy than anything ... just a lot of reflecting today.

Hopefully the boys close it out tonight! If they do, as you're celebrating whatever this win means to you, take a drink for my buddy - and I'll be right there with you toasting all the folks you're remembering in all the stories posted here. Baseball is bigger than the game, and I'm glad to be back!

What do y'all think about El Blondi?

akm91 said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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The Suns have never won a 'ship

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They've won three championships '76, '93, '21

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Lol is there a joke here I'm missing?

fc2112 said:

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Atlanta has the Thrashers. EDIT - they moved.

I'll concede the other two. I don't really follow hockey.

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If you think the MLB playoffs are stressful, check out the NHL. It's a different level of insanity.

why watch overtime playoff hockey when you can simply snort cocaine and ride a motorcycle out of a helicopter

— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) April 17, 2014

Extremely confident in Nathan Eovaldi on the bump tomorrow.

This guy knows the pressure. And according to Bruce Bochy all season long, “pressure is a privilege.”

The payout of the pressure? 💍#GoAndTakeIt | #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/Pb5jJyTVPh

— Abby Jones (@_abigaiiiil) November 1, 2023

I hear you, and I feel you. Different story, but same types of emotions. When Feliz struck out A-Rod to make the first world series in 2010, it was just one of those moments that brought me back to childhood and reminded me of a lot of good times. I called my dad and thanked him for taking me to all those games at Arlington Stadium and teaching me the game.

When Acie and BCG beat Louisville, it reminded me of attending the A&M NCAA games in 1980 with my dad when the Ags beat UNC and Bradley. Called dad again.

When Johnny beat Bama, it brought me back to those Kevin Murray wins against SMU and Baylor in the 80's. Dad and I were at the '86 SMU game.

When Dirk finally broke through, it brought me back to all those nights watching Brad Davis, Ro Blackman, Harp.

My son and I (I have 6 kids; only one is die hard) were at game 7 the other night. Some day when he's 50 I hope he can give me a call.

Life can't be all about serious things. You want to leave the world a better place, be there when people need you, roll with the punches, etc. But you can't be that way ALL of the time. Likewise, you can't be the other extreme; sports isn't life. It's there to pick you up, experience it with others, NOT to be your reason for getting up in the morning.

I feel sorry for the kids who don't care because there's no joy in it. I feel even more sorry for the kids who ONLY care about it, and only do the same thing year 'round.

Let's win this thing tonight; we're not the Cardinals, Yankees, Cowboys, Steelers...so what? We're the MF Texas Rangers, and it's time.

BassCowboy33 said:

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fc2112 said:

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Atlanta has the Thrashers. EDIT - they moved.

I'll concede the other two. I don't really follow hockey.

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If you think the MLB playoffs are stressful, check out the NHL. It's a different level of insanity.

why watch overtime playoff hockey when you can simply snort cocaine and ride a motorcycle out of a helicopter

— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) April 17, 2014

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Sorry, not even close. I love playoff hockey and the NBA playoffs for the intensity, but neither are as stressful on fans. Baseball games aren't determined by maximum effort. I wish they were. There is no clock to expire, you can't hold the ball, dump the puck into the corner, park the bus, etc. You have to wait pitch by pitch for the result, which is rarely determined by the size of lead you have late in a game. The fact that even with a Texas lead and the Dbacks down to their final strike, the game is not over until it is.

I already have a stress headache and we're 8 hours away from first pitch. I wish I had a substance abuse addiction I could fall back on right now.

South Platte said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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fc2112 said:

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Atlanta has the Thrashers. EDIT - they moved.

I'll concede the other two. I don't really follow hockey.

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If you think the MLB playoffs are stressful, check out the NHL. It's a different level of insanity.

why watch overtime playoff hockey when you can simply snort cocaine and ride a motorcycle out of a helicopter

— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) April 17, 2014

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Sorry, not even close. I love playoff hockey and the NBA playoffs for the intensity, but neither are as stressful on fans. Baseball games aren't determined by maximum effort. I wish they were. There is no clock to expire, you can't hold the ball, dump the puck into the corner, park the bus, etc. You have to wait pitch by pitch for the result, which is rarely determined by the size of lead you have late in a game. The fact that even with a Texas lead and the Dbacks down to their final strike, the game is not over until it is.

I already have a stress headache and we're 8 hours away from first pitch. I wish I had a substance abuse addiction I could fall back on right now.

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Hockey is notoriously the most unpredictable and toughest playoff in all of sports, and it has one ENORMOUS stress advantage over other sports, the greatest stress-inducer of all: sudden-death overtime.

About to eat dinner and then take a nap so I can get up for the 1:03am start here in Kosovo. We have a group getting together to watch. Let's go Rangers!!!