Andy

I'm only down 3 E8 teams, and it would only be 2 (Nova and Duke) if I hadn't gone full blind homer and put ND there. Nova was my runner-up, so that's a problem. Oddly enough, I haven't missed a single game yet in the Midwest region, which juxtaposes nicely with the complete mess I have going in the East.

When the Cubs won the World Series, I felt a tremendous weight come off my shoulders, it was almost euphoric jubilation. But when this happened I broke down and cried because this was something I had never thought possible. It was almost as if once they got to the World Series I expected them to win with the utmost confidence, but the years of torment of getting close and failing made this particular moment so much more emotionally impactful to me, personally. Hell, I got teary eyed just watching this again. I know it's #26, and winning the World Series was the pinnacle of Cubs fandom, but this for me is easily my #2. I had a bigger happy-cry meltdown when the ball hit Rizzo's glove Nov. 2, but I definitely agree with this - amazing moment. The fact that it happened at Wrigley adds a lot, obviously.

Princeton did very well executing their strategy. Matt Farrell plays too much hero-ball down the stretch and today was the first time it looked like it pissed Brey off.

I'm indifferent on all the foul related ones but I really like the 20 second shot clock for a front court inbounds. Would the shot clock go down to 20 if it's over 20 when they're inbounding (like after a missed shot when the ball goes off the defending team)? The shot clock going to 20 on the frontcourt inbound is a good idea. Everything else there mirrors what they did with women's basketball a couple years ago, and is a really really bad idea ('segments', really?)

Buck is great. there i said it He's said several times that after his hair-plug/vocal cord disaster, he decided to stop being what he thought people wanted him to be (even-keeled, never too excited) and live in the moment on these calls. Ever since he's been fantastic.

I'm surprised anyone would've needed to be sold on that book, Verducci is a really good writer and that book's going to be freaking awesome.

Yep. I can't remember who served it up, but on the very next pitch he also gave up a dong to superstar frank catalanatto. Jason Marquis, in case you were curious. I would've loved to get some odds in 2002 or thereabouts on the possibility of Sammy Sosa hitting his 600th against the Cubs off a guy wearing his number.

I was at this one too. I had no memory of Wood starting the game.

I really wish Michigan had kept wearing their practice uniforms until they lost. If they go down today I have no qualms blaming it on that.

Walk-off wild pitch vs. Philly on 8/2/07, putting us into first place for the first time since winning the division in 2003. Most of the bleachers refused to leave until they changed the NL Central flags to put us above Milwaukee. Cubs clinch NL Central in Cincinnati on 9/28/07. I decided that afternoon to drive from school at Ball State to Cincinnati. I couldn't get anyone to come with me, so I just went myself. I still had a blast. I actually had my hands on Derrek Lee's home run ball when it bounced into my row, but someone else had gotten there first and outfought me for it. Soriano's walk-off grand slam vs. Houston on 7/27/09. It was awesome. Arrieta beats the White Sox by himself on 7/12/15. He tossed a complete game two-hitter and hit a home run in the game. It also ended something like a seven-game personal losing streak for me at Wrigley. Not technically the birth of Arrieta as utter badass, because he was already in the midst of his season-ending dominance, but certainly the day I was convinced of it. We come within a lost fly ball in the sun of a no-hitter vs. LA, 5/30/16. Hammel left with cramps, but Travis Wood came to the rescue and LA's only hit was on a ball Ben Zobrist lost in the sun in RF. This was also technically my son's first game, albeit still inside my wife. Someday he'll actually be there consciously. The Brian Matusz/Travis Wood in LF/Jon Lester walk-off bunt game vs. Seattle on 7/31/16. We were so excited to see Hendricks pitch and they decided to bring up Matusz for no good reason. I was so damn bitter for about six innings until the Cubs started actually coming back. Probably beginning to end the wildest game I've been to. There was a game vs. Atlanta in 2014 where Edwin Jackson pitched that was only memorable because me and my friends spent the whole game bitching about how terrible he was. A friend of mine said Chris Johnson had 'zero power' and then he hit two HRs, and I essentially called Jackson serving up a HR to Mike Minor right before it happened.

I definitely slumped in my seat after Davis hit the homer, but felt pretty good after we got out of it still tied (until the bottom of the 9th, when Joe sent Chapman back out and it turned into a roller coaster ride). I would say, and I'm sure others here felt the same, that I felt really good about things coming out of the rain delay.

Group A: Nolan Arenado Group B: Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo Group C: George Springer, Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton Group D: Francisco Lindor, Dexter Fowler, Willson Contreras, Buster Posey, Adrian Gonzalez WC: PM'd

I'm a little jealous of you rich bastards that live near Chicago and can go to these playoff games, but then again, I did get the Soriano walk-off slam in 09 and last year's Brian Matusz/Travis Wood in LF/Jon Lester walk-off bunt game, so I've had it pretty good too.

It all worked out ok, but that trade where Boston handed Lackey at the league minimum to STL for that bag of crap was a really bad move at the time and is now a truly awful one.

That's something he does once in a blue moon for a particularly huge home run, IIRC. Why is unknown, but it's a thing of his.

I vaguely remember that coming up when we acquired the last of the 3, but it's always worth mentioning again since one of them did it for us.

I thought he jumped the gun a bit bringing in Lester when he did - Hendricks was pitching fantastically and had by all rights struck out the batter that ultimately reached base and led to his removal. But Kipnis was up and the game was relatively close, so it's a more than excusable move. Having Javy bunt with 2 strikes and a man on 3rd with 1 out in the top of the 9th (unless that was Javy's call) was probably the only move that struck me as ridiculous and stupid. But I'm absolutely in the "won title, don't care" category.

The NLCS effectively ended when Rizzo and Russell busted out in Game 4. I think having a little brush with mortality and overcoming it with flying colors - in both the NLDS and NLCS - helped a lot, if only for the fan base, when we fell behind in the World Series.

I've got my dumb team (Carolina) as usual

Jackie Robinson. Unless you mean when he integrated baseball (which would nix the 'rival' part of the story), he was traded from Brooklyn to the (then SF) Giants and retired before joining them, so I'm not sure that counts.

I loved that article. Surprised that story hadn't been told yet.

Off the top of my head, some sort of oversize 2016 championship flag right below the American flag would be neat. I'm sure there's a better idea though.

I'm still mad at the Magic for matching the Bulls' offer for Redick (for no damn reason) in the 2010 offseason.

I'd be fine with those striped blue ones as occasional road unis, but the gray ones from the Strop clip need to be the regular road jerseys as of yesterday.

I'm just chiming in to say that Vasgersian's call of Javy's home run against SF might have been my favorite single call of the postseason.