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In a seven game series, each of the seven possible games has its own sort of identity.
Game 1: This is the prom queen of the series. Everyone's there, everyone's attention is focused on one thing, and every is on an even playing field (hypothetically) though both teams' fans fully believe the other team sucks.
Game 2: The victorious team in game 1 has two choices here: hangover or crush the opposition. Being up 2 games to none is a nice luxury but not a necessity.
Game 3: In baseball, this is the first game of the series back in the other teams' park. Although they want to win, the game itself is usually only interesting if the series is tied 1-1. A 3-0 lead is virtually insurmountable (sorry Yankee fans, I did say virtually not guaranteed) which takes all the luster out of the series. However, a 2-1 series is usually interesting, so game 3 is often a deciding game as to whether or not the series will be "good."
Game 4: Short of going for a sweep, game 4 is boring. Your choices are 3-1 one team up or a 2-2 tie otherwise.
Game 5: Game five is probably the best game of the first five games of the series. A team that is up 3-1 and wins game 5 wins the series while if the losing team wins game 5 they head back to the other ballpark with a bit of momentum. If the series happened to be tied 2-all, then game 5 determines who has the advantage heading into the final pair of games.
Game 6: Unlike game 5, game 6 isn't quite as exciting. One team has the option to win (that's exciting I suppose) while other team has to win just to get the opportunity to play again. The pressure is entirely on the team that is behind, but even a win in game six doesn't assure them of anything other than another day. It's hard to get real excited when the best thing that can happen is "another day."
Game 7: The one good thing about a game 6 is that it can force a game 7, probably the best possible game in the entire series. It's the classic win-or-go-home that makes sports like college football and events like the Super Bowl so wonderful. It's a one-shot jolt of excitement for a sport punctuated with long periods of inactivity and treading water. Game 7 is the spiked punch bowl of the prom - you don't know what exactly will happen but after the night is over you know that a lot of people are going to have a good time. Yep, that's game 7.
So, if I had to rank the world series on "best games to watch" from worst to first, I'd rank them as follows:
#7: Game 4
#6: Game 6
#5: Game 2
#4: Game 3
#3: Game 1
#2: Game 5
#1: Game 7
What do you think? Which game(s) of a typical World Series are best for you? I don't know whether history has proved my rankings accurate (certainly the game 6 between the Reds and Red Sox is one of the most famous World Series games of all time). However, even in the Reds/Red Sox game, what's often forgotten is that all that win did for the Red Sox was allow them to play another day (which they ended up losing anyhow).
And finally, will we get a game 7 in this year's World Series? Will we make it through what I think is one of the most boring games to the really exciting game? I'm curious for your predictions.
One more thing, if you missed it: I've got a trade stack that is brimming with World Series goodness.
Game 1: This is the prom queen of the series. Everyone's there, everyone's attention is focused on one thing, and every is on an even playing field (hypothetically) though both teams' fans fully believe the other team sucks.
Game 2: The victorious team in game 1 has two choices here: hangover or crush the opposition. Being up 2 games to none is a nice luxury but not a necessity.
Game 3: In baseball, this is the first game of the series back in the other teams' park. Although they want to win, the game itself is usually only interesting if the series is tied 1-1. A 3-0 lead is virtually insurmountable (sorry Yankee fans, I did say virtually not guaranteed) which takes all the luster out of the series. However, a 2-1 series is usually interesting, so game 3 is often a deciding game as to whether or not the series will be "good."
Game 4: Short of going for a sweep, game 4 is boring. Your choices are 3-1 one team up or a 2-2 tie otherwise.
Game 5: Game five is probably the best game of the first five games of the series. A team that is up 3-1 and wins game 5 wins the series while if the losing team wins game 5 they head back to the other ballpark with a bit of momentum. If the series happened to be tied 2-all, then game 5 determines who has the advantage heading into the final pair of games.
Game 6: Unlike game 5, game 6 isn't quite as exciting. One team has the option to win (that's exciting I suppose) while other team has to win just to get the opportunity to play again. The pressure is entirely on the team that is behind, but even a win in game six doesn't assure them of anything other than another day. It's hard to get real excited when the best thing that can happen is "another day."
Game 7: The one good thing about a game 6 is that it can force a game 7, probably the best possible game in the entire series. It's the classic win-or-go-home that makes sports like college football and events like the Super Bowl so wonderful. It's a one-shot jolt of excitement for a sport punctuated with long periods of inactivity and treading water. Game 7 is the spiked punch bowl of the prom - you don't know what exactly will happen but after the night is over you know that a lot of people are going to have a good time. Yep, that's game 7.
So, if I had to rank the world series on "best games to watch" from worst to first, I'd rank them as follows:
#7: Game 4
#6: Game 6
#5: Game 2
#4: Game 3
#3: Game 1
#2: Game 5
#1: Game 7
What do you think? Which game(s) of a typical World Series are best for you? I don't know whether history has proved my rankings accurate (certainly the game 6 between the Reds and Red Sox is one of the most famous World Series games of all time). However, even in the Reds/Red Sox game, what's often forgotten is that all that win did for the Red Sox was allow them to play another day (which they ended up losing anyhow).
And finally, will we get a game 7 in this year's World Series? Will we make it through what I think is one of the most boring games to the really exciting game? I'm curious for your predictions.
One more thing, if you missed it: I've got a trade stack that is brimming with World Series goodness.
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