SERIOUSLY...THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!

It's actually happening.

To say that the claws came out last night is like the understatement of the century. This is the most surreal feeling I've ever experienced as a devoted Texas Rangers fan. After all the tears of joy last night that keep creeping back today every single time I see that curve ball (ahem...I stand corrected, that SLIDER...thank you Brother for editing every blog I write) that A-Rod could only stare at, it's still hard to believe that we are really going to play in the freaking WORLD SERIES! It's nothing less than absolutely AMAZING. I'm so giddy. I slept in my freakin' Hamilton jersey. I couldn't take the damn thing off. I've watched/listened to nothing but baseball talk for the past 16 hours. I can't get enough of the videos online. Me and Hambone drove around all morning looking for newspapers, and after five different stores/gas stations, we finally found what we set out for!

I haven't actually gotten around to reading the papers yet, but I'm about to go buy some frames to put them in! :) I did, however, read the articles about the game from the New York Times, and I have to say, the national media is FINALLY getting it. The Rangers are LEGIT. As I sit here and type, I'm listening to the videos playing on texasrangers.com, and all the credit the Yankee players are (finally) giving to the Rangers makes me smile. At last the sportscasters from ESPN and TBS acknowledge the talent of the Texas Rangers. The replays of the ALCS trophy presentation are chilling! IT'S TIME. We've said it all year, and it's no longer words, but reality.

I think a couple of people deserve a picture on the blog for their Game 6 production:

Colby Lewis - "Cobra"

WOW is all I can say. Unbelievable performance. Congratulations on coming full circle in your career! You deserve that W last night. Props to you.

Mitch Moreland

What a series for you. Thanks for your leadoff single in the 5th to get the big inning going!!! Congratulations.

Josh Hamilton

(I know, y'all are all astonished that he's on my kudos list).

Where do I even begin? As I posted on Facebook last night, your humility and humble nature are admirable. You give the claw all year, but when the spotlight really is on you, you only want to talk about your teammates and how this is a TEAM accomplishment. If only everyone in this world had that mentality, I know my job would certainly be easier! :) My brother thinks I need to seek counseling because of my obsession with Josh Hamilton, and perhaps he's right. And my cousin and friends tell me I'm creepy - I'm not fazed by this. I don't even care! How could anyone that follows him and his accomplishments NOT be obsessed with him? He made so many mistakes in his life, but he persevered with the help of his family and of course the Man upstairs, and at this point he takes NOTHING for granted and knows that he hasn't accomplished it all on his own. He's truly an inspiration to people of all ages, and he is living proof that anything is possible. I love him. :) (see above where I slept in my jersey...)

If you haven't watched his acceptance speech from the ALCS MVP honor, watch it now!

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12892987&topic_id=14873332&c_id=tex

Some of my favorite quotes from his speech:

"Well first of all, all the glory goes to God, Jesus Christ...secondly, I love my teammates, I love them so much. Any of these guys could've gotten this award."

"I don't wanna talk about myself, I want to talk about them [my teammates]!"

"This group's here because they don't know how to fail."

"...and we love the fans!" :)

Obviously the rest of the team deserves full credit for this phenomenal, historical season. Elvis Andrus has been a beast, Michael Young a perfect leader, Bengie Molina - the badass. We have guys that go out there every game and flat out perform. Last night's game was freaking awesome. I called Vladdy's big hit when they walked Hamilton the 2nd time (weinies). Pissed as I was that they were walking my man again, I said, it's okay, Vladdy's got this. Right Brooke???

But even before that, at 8:15 pm, as one of my bff's, Jen Davis Vansau, and I texted throughout the game, it went a little something like this:

Me - Nelly is going to tag one today...I can feel it.

Jen - And Vlad!

Me - I hope Kins will turn it on today too (no picture available, but you guys get the point)!

And those guys, ladies and gentlemen, were your three RBI producers last night. So we pretty much called the 5th and 7th innings...you're welcome Rangers and Rangers fans. :)

Perhaps our foreshadowing skills are needed on ESPN??? It'd be nice for a couple of Rangers supporters to appear on those completely biased networks (yes, they're getting better, but they could still use our help).

Speaking of annoying, did anyone else see that clip on SportsCenter of Kobe IN THE MIDDLE of his basketball game, get word that the Yanks were defeated??? He was all pissed off on the court. This is shocking. A famous person that cheers for the Yankees??? Unheard of! Get over it.

Moving on...

I've done my fair share of making fun of Ron Washington for all of his "imperfections" (i.e. cocaine, smoking in the dugout, sunflower seeds addiction, ebonics, etc.), but he has the complete respect of his players and the Rangers ownership. He is finally getting media respect and respect from the MLB. I have to say that I really admire him for taking so much crap and dismissing it only to prove himself a great manager. Keep it up Wash!!!

A week ago when I wrote my blog about last Friday night's game, I really believed we were going to come back and prove to everyone that the Yankees weren't unbeatable in the playoffs and that we had the team to do it. Well done, guys. Way to prove me right! :) I love it when I'm right!

Now we move on to the World Series. The elite match-up. The pinnacle of baseball. I'm so pumped that it's hard to think about anything else (yeah...about that triathlon I'm doing tomorrow...). I can't wait to be in that Ballpark on Sunday night. With family and old friends and the new friends we'll undoubtedly make at the game coming together, this weekend will be full of memories and baseball history! We'll be tailgating Saturday and Sunday - Hope to see you all there!

Claws out, Antlers up! Go Rangers! It's TIME!

or...as Chels has learned to say, "ES TIEMPO!"

Oh - and for anyone that is totally concerned and lost sleep wondering all week (haha) - my volleyball girls kicked BUTT on Thursday and remain the only undefeated team in our district! :) What a fantastic week!!!

Claws and Antlers!

So it seems that perhaps my Rangers blog helped my boys play a badass game yesterday! :) I'm only kidding, but if you were at the game yesterday or if you watched on TV and witnessed the Rangers bounce back from that unfortunate Friday night, it's easy to see why I love those Rangers so! Props to my previously mentioned allstars (in my book anyway) Murphy, Cruz and Andrus for being on fire yesterday!

By the way, as the announcer read the Rangers starting line-up and called Murphy's name, Miles called boomstick before the game even started! "Murphy is gonna hit one out today." First at-bat...he hit a freakin bomb! This comes one day after he called Hamilton's first inning homerun...he said "I'm putting in the boomstick call, even though it's just the first inning I'm making the call!" Couple pitches later...SEE YA!!!!! Milesykins, how I love you. And since I'm on the subject of Hambone, seeing them walk him about fifty times yesterday was a bit annoying. Oh well! I guess that's what happens when you hit a three-run shot in the first inning of the first game of a series AND you are the batting champion AND a candidate for MVP. Just another day at the office for Josh Hamilton...

Speaking of Hamilton, being the creeper that I am, I found his wife on Twitter. I have absolutely NO IDEA how to actually post a tweet or anything, but I know how to find people on the dang website! I am now a follower of CJ Wilson and Katie Hamilton. :) It's kinda cool that they allow people like me to basically stalk them. Haha! And while I'm talking about CJ - I failed to mention him yesterday but he definitely deserves a shout out for his outstanding performance on Friday. Claws to you, CJ.

I must mention our thrilling experience before the game yesterday. We got there 3 hours early so we could watch bp...and aren't we glad we did! Josh Hamilton batting...all the pitchers in right field warming up...ball is hit to Derek Holland...we hold our hands up and he throws it (not the best throw, maybe he wasn't warm yet...) and we both freaking miss it! It lands in the section below us, and I briefly think about tackling Chelsea (and had I been enough paying attention to realize that oh, hey, that's off Josh Hamilton's bat I never would've backed down...), but I remember our slap match from last weekend and let her have it. Yes, she smacked me right across the face after the game last week, so naturally I hit her back and then she gets pissed at me (of course) and mom, because "she always takes my side." Seriously? Are we 10 again? :) Needless to say, I didn't want a replay of last week, and I figure bp just started, surely I'll get a ball at some point. UM SIKE. Thank you Cliff Lee and Tommy Hunter for messing with my mind for the next hour and teasing me only to NEVER actually throw me a ball. It's cool...I'm not bitter. At least I have the fond memory of two phenomenal pitchers looking at me, pretending they had a ball in their glove and laughing their asses off as I freaked out for them to throw it to me...then realized that they were totally f'ing with me. Chels says it's because I sound like a man. Whatev.

So now it's Game 3 in the Big Apple with my new bff Cliff on the hump. As CJ tweeted last night after the game, "it's now a 5 game series with Cliff Lee pitching Game 1." Sounds like a familiar situation to me! World Series tickets on sale this morning...yes please!

Chaunce is getting antsy ready to go do something, so I guess I'll quit rambling on. Joe T's here we come! :)

CLAWS AND ANTLERS.

Do work...

Well, I keep getting griped at for not blogging in a while, but I try to tell everyone nothing super special is going on with us! But when I woke up this morning (BL hangover in tact), I could NOT stop thinking about one thing...the Rangers. Y'all know I'm obsessed, and that I follow the Rangers like white on rice, so it should come as no shock that the biggest thing going on with Miles and I right now is the playoffs!

Now...let's get real. Last night was awful. Talk about going from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat in about 20 minutes time. Damn you 8th inning Yankees. I was so mad last night that I forced Miles to leave Hooters (yes, that's where we choose to go on dates) and come home because I honestly felt like I could cry (sorry Haschkes!!!!). I was so pissed off at the decisions that were made during the game that reality was clouded by angry judgment. I woke up pissed. I was still pissed when I got in the shower and started to get ready to head out to the Ballpark. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm totally over it 20 minutes later, but the more I think about difficult decisions and our jobs in life, it gets a little easier to understand that sometimes...people just make mistakes.

In my profession, if I make a mistake, sub a wrong player in a game, make a bad decision about a player, or even mis-grade a student's test, the repercussions are minimal. Perhaps (not very often) we lose a game or even a match, or I have to raise a grade or apologize to a student or talk to a parent...no harm done. But in Ron Washington's job, a mistake is a platform for city-wide, state-wide, and now even nation-wide scrutiny. Yes, he chose that profession, yes he makes millions more than I do...but yes, he is still human. Same for Darren Oliver, O'Day, and the rest of the pitching staff that made one-pitch/batter appearances last night. A bad day at work for them results in a bad day for thousands and thousands of disgruntled fans and media outlets...and for that, I have to feel bad for them. A bad day at work for me means a lot of bitching and whining and poor Miles doing everything he can to NOT say the wrong thing (which, typically, he sucks at) :). A bad day at work for them means every form of media - internet, tv, radio, etc. - bashing them for hours on end...and fans going to sleep pissed off unable to think about anything else. That's a LOT of pressure! As a coach, I know what it's like to have people completely pissed off at you. I got cussed out by a parent just the other day (yes, one of those bad days at work...everyone's babies are A team material, right?), but it comes with the territory I guess. Washington, we still believe in you!

So as I get ready to go out and support the team that I've followed since childhood, through the good, the BAAAAAAD and the super ugly, I will go to the Ballpark with only positive thoughts and realize the adversity this team has had to overcome to get where we are today. Sure, the Yanks have the right to have such obnoxious fans - they can seriously back up their shit-talk. I was listening to the Fan yesterday on the way home and they were talkin about the fact that if there was a salary cap in baseball, this wouldn't even be a game. The Yanks are good, and I'm not taking anything away from them. They SHOULD be good. They're a dynasty. They've got more money than they know what to do with. They attract the good players based on their legacy and the ability to WIN. The money doesn't hurt either. But the Rangers are a team with a lot of heart, with guys that just want to play ball. The Josh Hamiltons and Michael Youngs are two in a million. That's what I love about this team. The camaraderie is amazing. The Yanks can have their Mark Teixeiras and A-Rods. We don't want them - we saw what happened when we had them. The Texas Rangers aren't built on big boys like that. I'll take an Elvis Andrus, David Murphy or a Nelly Cruz over them ANYDAY.

So for those of you dying to know what's up with Miles and I these days...this is it!!! That and my amazing 8th grade volleyball team. We have a huge game this week (yes, 8th grade volleyball has huge games!). The two undefeated teams will battle it out this week! Unfortunately we're going in with two injured starters...but we, like the Rangers, can overcome those obstacles! I totally just caught myself singing Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" and turned it off IMMEDIATELY.

Ok - heading to the Ballpark now. My favorite place on EARTH!

Go Rangers. Do Work. Claws and Antlers baby!!!!!!!!!!!!