Adoring Brewers Faithful Send Off Team in Style

In ecstatic roars emanating from the crowd, the 2008 Milwaukee Brewers were sent off as heroes to the team’s first playoff series in 26 years at the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee yesterday September 29.

"Twenty-six years," closing pitcher Salomon Torres boldly proclaimed to Brewers faithful. "You've waited 26 years, and you can wait no more!"

Torres pitches 3.49 and has gone 7-5 in his last 12 games.

The Brewers have named Yovanni Gallardo as the starting pitcher for Wednesday’s game against the Phillies. This will be game one in the best of five National League Division Series. Gallardo returned from the DL on the September 25 game against the Pirates in which Ryan Braun hit his first game-winning grand slam of his career. The game was tied 1-1 from the fourth when in the 10th inning and bases loaded with two outs Braun hammered the ball high over left field into the jubilant crowd.

Gallardo, who has been kept from pitching with a torn ACL in his right knee will be squaring against Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels who has a 3.09 ERA and 196 SO this season.

"He might be a rookie on paper, but he's not a rookie in his heart," Dale Sveum said of Gallardo. "He's an 'ahead of his time' young man."

The beast himself, Mr. CC Sabathia will take the mound in Thursday’s game. The left-handed pitcher has gone 11-2 with an ERA of 2.7.

"It's the fans here that gave me the motivation for going 'all in,'" general manager Doug Melvin said. "I want to thank CC for that trade. It made up for all of the bad ones I've made."

“It’s unbelievable…the fans have been so supportive of us all year. It just makes you feel that all the hard work you put into this game pays off,” all star Ryan Braun said. “It’s really cool to have the opportunity to sit back and reflect on what we just accomplished and to see how much it really means to this city.”

“It’s a fantastic day for Brewers fans – it’s a fantastic day for Milwaukee. It’s something we’ve waited for for a long time,” mayor of Milwaukee Tom Barrett said.

Sports: A Microchasm of Life

Of all the sections of the newspaper there is only one of any true significance. Sports. Why the sports section trumps all others can be answer in one simple concept-healthy living. To be athletic one must maintain a healthy lifestyle and, arguably, if one is interested in sports, at the very least, a closer attention is paid to what is eaten and done than say, a fat ass slob who's only interested in what time American Idol and the Biggest Looser is on. Make sure you got your cheesy puffs and diet coke.

Sure there are some who will say that the News section is the most important. Maybe it provides the information that most affects our lives like terrorist attacks, wars and natural disasters but in a day and age like today is it really wise to focus our minds on negative thoughts? Has it ever been wise to focus on negative thoughts? The news section can be summed up by saying, America the world outside is mean and angry.

Especially for the avid news reader who might get a bit fired up over the running presidential race, what better way to vent frustration than sitting back and watching a veritable war unfold in the baseball diamond, basketball court or football field? At least in these wars the soldiers don't die and shake hands like gentleman and ladies upon closing the conflict.

Watching a baseball, football, basketball or any other game for that matter instills in people, at least it does in this journalist, a desire to improve one's own physical abilities. Watching athletes play at the top of their game inspires average Joes and Janes to advance their performance. That can be a strive for more healthful eating or perhaps better accuracy when shooting hoops. Complacency is the anti-sport.

Where does complacency come from? Complacency comes from lack of ambition and lack of positive influence. Complacency comes from idiot reality television which gives Americans a deceiving sense of ineptitude in their lives when they are compared to the lives of those on TV. There is only one true form of reality TV - that is sports and the 10 O'Clock news, yet I reiterate my point about the news. Get off your couch America unless of course you need to catch the last inning of the game.

The sports section has another vital lifeline of healthy living in it's relaying of the weather. How can someone, inspired by their team's victory last night, organize a game to play if the fan doesn't know what the weather is going to be the following day? Sure one can play indoors but they are truly robbing themselves of the greatest gifts nature gives us - freshair and sunshine. Indoor games should be reserved exclusively for rainy days. (We don't say snow anymore ... it's just too evil) Indoor air is infinitely worse for our bodies than outdoor air is. Think about the sunshine; it gives us Vitamin D. Whether one admits to it or not, sun exposure positively affects our moods. When was the last time your light bulb and air conditioner improved your health and mood?

Stop focusing on the negative and start running on those positive vibrations that sports are designed to give us.