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The Fourth Wall
Editorial:
By Tony Arnold
Sports Editor
The Colorado Rockies made an
improbable September run to make
it into the National League Division
Series. The team won 14 out of its
final 15 games in the regular
season, forcing a one-game playoff
with the unsuspecting San Diego
Padres to determine who would
represent the NL West in the post-
season. The game, held in Denver,
dragged on for 13 innings but the
Rockies came out on top to clinch
- a playoff berth. Cinderella would
get to go to the ball.
The Rockies went on a rampage
in the post-season. The team, as if
locked in a cage all regular season,
lit up the Phillies in the National
League Division Series with an
impressive 3-game sweep in which
the Rockies took the first two.in
Philadelphia and outscored the
Phillies 16-8, a ratio of 2-1. Did
Cinderella really think she had the
prettiest dress at the ball? Surely
this Rockies team would falter after
a couple of games in Arizona.
Apparently not. The Rockies
beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in
the NLCS as if by fate, outscoring
the upstart D-Backs 18-8 over a
four-game stretch and generally
looking unstoppable. Colorado
to 21 of 22 games and would head
into the World Series with a record
eight days rest.” Cinderella would
get to stay for the last dance.
Enter the Wicked Stepmother.
The Boston Red Sox had a tougher
road to travel to the World Series.
Though it did look like the best
team in the more competitive
American League the Sox by no
means had things locked up.
Boston outscored the Los Angeles
Angels 19-4 in a three-game sweep
of the ALDS, showing off their
guns on offense and some fine
starting pitching. But the Wicked
stepmother got bitch-slapped in
the American League
Championship Series.
The Sox started out just fine
with a 10-3 romp of the Cleveland
Indians in the opening game of the
ALCS. With this big win over C.C.
Sabathia, Cleveland’s ace, it
looked like smooth sailing for the
Sox. But the sailing was anything
but smooth. Rough seas hit the
Sox as Fausto Carmona pitched a
brilliant game against the
formidable Boston offense and
sent the two teams into game three
tied at one apiece. Game three was
up for grabs on paper with neither
of the clubs using prolific starters
and the Indians managed to take
the coin-toss for a 2-1 lead heading
into game four which ‘they
promptly won as well. With a 3-1
lead heading into game 5 in
Cleveland the Indians thought it
was their series to lose. They were
right. ..and they lost it. Or did Josh
Beckett win it? Boston’s ace,
already 2-0 in the 2007 postseason,
pitched a game that can only be
described as Herculean. With the
pressure on, Beckett pitched eight
innings of blissful baseball in which
he allowed only five hits, struck out
eleven, and allowed only one run.
The clutch 7-1 win sent Boston
back into Fenway for game six with
the taste of blood in its mouth. The
Sox delivered a dominating two-
game performance in Fenway,
outscoring the beleaguered tribe of
Cleveland 23-4 and completing a
somewhat improbable comeback to
lock up a spot in the World Series.
It looks like Cinderella lost her
slipper at the ball as she ran like
hell to get away from this bitchy
Stepmother. Indeed, it was as if
Colorado had never even played.
The team was outscored 29-10 (and
it honestly didn’t even seem that
close) in an effortless four-game
second World Series in four years.
One wonders if it was the case that
Cinderella never came back to find
her glass slipper. After watching
the conquest that was the 2007
World Series, it is the author’s
opinion that she found it, ran for it,
but simply could not grab it before
the Wicked Stepmother that was
the Boston Red Sox crushed it like
an eggshell right in front of her.
By Tony Arnold
Sports Editor
It looks as if the Nittany Lions
are in position to improve upon last
year’s regular season record of 8-
4. The Lions are now 7-3 after a
nail-biting 26-19 victory over
Purdue and with only Temple and
Michigan State left to play the
prospects of a 9-3 season seem
pretty realistic.
The Lions’ stout defense has
been marvelously led by Dan
Connor, the senior linebacker who
eclipsed Paul Posluszny’s school
record for career tackles (372) on
Senior Day and is currently a
finalist for the venerable Butkus
Award, the trophy given to the
nation’s top linebacker. The
offense is anchored by a one-two
punch of Rodney Kinlaw and Evan
Royster in the backfield. A much-
improved Anthony Morelli keeps
some options open through the air
as well. Though Morelli is not
playing marvelous football he has
been playing clean football and,
let’s be honest, it is relatively
difficult to be a horrible quarterback
when you have as dynamic a
receiving corps as Penn State.
All in all it seems as if the
prospects are looking at least
slightly better than last year’s team.
The Lions are at worst going to be
8-4—Dbarring an absolute upset by
Temple—and are likely going to be
able to handle the Spartans in the
final game of the season. With a 9-
3 record the Lions would easily
enter a more prestigious bowl game
than last year’s Outback Bowl and
would certainly increase the morale
heading into next year’s season. It
should also be noted that this is a
Penn State team in transition. Joe
Paterno himself said before the
onset of the season that he
expected some special things in the
coming years but nothing
spectacular this season. The
offensive and defensive lines were
to be the make-or-break factor for
the Lions this season and so far
they have held up beyond
expectations. So while it is nice to
posit what the Lions might do this
year it is even more exciting to think
what the team will do next year or
the year after with what is expected
to be a much more solid and
established team. Could the next
two seasons see Penn State as the
Big Ten champion? Could the
Lions even return to the national
championship picture? These
predictions could certainly come
true and it is definitely fun to think
about. So while we bask in the
strides the team has made this
season we can be comfortable in
knowing that this Penn State team
isn’t likely to go anywhere but up
in the seasons to come.