Into the present day...

Date: 5/3/2010
Watching: Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Game 2, Round 2
Listening to: MLB.com's broadcast of NY Mets @ CIN Reds.

Sports is an excuse to leave. My wife has some friends over, all people I like, but sometimes I want an excuse to not talk to anybody for a while. And I can use sports for that; I just have to tell people I'm keeping an eye on a sports game, and then I can leave the room any time I want. It's a sweet deal, especially when the Reds win on a walk off home run by Laynce Nix.

The beauty of baseball is the collection of individual stories embedded in the larger story. Like, I know the story of the Reds over the last couple of years: a mediocre team that succeeds in not being awful. But in many ways I'm more invested in the players. Is Aaron Harang ever going to return to his pre-18-inning-game self? Has Bronson Arroyo figured out that early-season inconsistency that's plagued him the last few seasons? Will Joey Votto mature into the true, feared top hitter that a playoff team needs? Is the house of cards that is "Francisco Cordero is our closer" going to come tumbling down, as it did with Danny Graves a few years back? And today, a chapter in the story of Laynce Nix (every day player? solid bench presence? waste of effort?) was told, as he came on to pinch hit in the bottom of the 11th, 1 out, nobody on, 2-2 game, and hits a game-winner in a game that was crucial to the story of the Reds' next week or so. We were looking good, then we lost to in St. Louis, but on the other hand, we didn't look awful, and it is St. Louis, after all. Now, at home, against another legitimately good team, is the time for the Reds to establish, for the moment, whether or not they are a team that's worth keeping an eye on or not. Then tonight, Mike Leake continued to look like the real deal, the bullpen looked like they did in Houston, and Laynce Nix showed that even he is capable of helping this team. A good night.

As if it isn't easy enough to root for the Canucks, then I see Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, all fat and beardy in the Chicago stands, going nuts as the Hawks win it... man, I hope the Canucks win the series.