The tough part about not blogging for over a month is deciding what to write about when you return.
There have been numerous events that have been worthy of note -- a wonderful trip to North Carolina, seeing the Packers' new quarterback in his first win at Lambeau Field, Owen starting "real" kindergarten, Nora's new obsession with Bruce Springsteen and Alicia Keyes. And lots of not-that-worthy-of-note stuff, too, like harvesting my first crop of heirloom tomatoes or successfully making a "diaper cake" for a coworker.
But I'm not going to write about any of that today. No, today is all about the Milwaukee Brewers.
It has been a crazy week to be a fan of the Brew Crew. They went from a disappointing "what could have been" to having a glimmer of a chance...a chance...to make the playoffs. And now it all comes down to the last game today...or maybe tomorrow. I'll turn to sports writer Gary D'Amato for an explanation:
Here are the scenarios:
• The Brewers win and the Mets lose. The Brewers clinch the wild-card berth and face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Division Series beginning Wednesday in Philadelphia.
• The Brewers and Mets win, or both teams lose. They finish with identical records, and Milwaukee travels to New York for a winner-take-all game Monday.
• The Mets win and the Brewers lose. You don't want to think about that one.
Egads!
At least the possibilities are clear. For weeks, Brewers fans have been speaking about the playoffs in code -- lots of hand signals and "you know whats" in conversations about October and baseball. But now it's down to today (or tomorrow). And they just need to win.
In the middle of all of this, I keep thinking of my grandpa -- a lifelong Brewers fan -- and how excited he'd be to have baseball be exciting in late September. I remember when I used to visit Milwaukee in the summers, and on baseball nights, he'd walk around the house carrying a transistor radio so he could listen to the games. And I can recall going to at least a few games with him and my grandma at the old County Stadium. He'd listen to the play-by-play on his headphones and keep a scorecard.
I can't say Milwaukee deserves this any more than the Mets do, but I can say Milwaukee is ready. A sell-out weeknight game against the Pirates on Thursday tells me they're ready. The plethora of Brewers shirts anywhere you go tell me they're ready. The fact that many people will be flipping between the Packers and Brewers this afternoon tells me they're ready.
So try to win one for my grandpa, Brew Crew, and all the grandpas out there who passed down a love for the blue and gold to their grandchildren. We're ready.
