This has been one of those sports weekends that is truly impossible to describe. We went to the Rockies - D’Backs game on Friday night with the Rockies controlling their own destiny for the Wild Card. A crushing 4-2 loss to Brandon Webb left the Rockies playoff hopes in need of a miracle. We were among the very melancholy crowd hanging around at the end to watch a fireworks show that had suddenly lost its luster.
Then on Saturday we got up extremely early to go participate in the CU Alumni Band at Homecoming 2007. The Buffs were playing #3 Oklahoma and were a huge underdog. We were thinking the disappointing sports weekend was going to continue in a big way. But the Buffs stunned us. They dominated Oklahoma for most of the game. The only reason it was close was 2 CU turnovers that gave OU 14 points. A furious CU comeback in the 4th quarter culminated with much maligned CU kicker, Kevin Eberhart, hitting the game winning field goal as time expired. CU 27 - #3 OU 24 in one of the most exciting college football finishes I’ve ever been at. We even had starting defensive tackle, George Hypolite, run over to conduct the band in Fight CU as the students were rushing the field!
While the Buffs were dispatching the Sooners, the miracles continued. San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman gave up a 2 out triple to Tony Gwynn Jr., and Milwaukee came back to beat the Padres. The Rockies thumped the D’Backs 11-1 in the evening and we went to Sunday being not yet dead.
Andrea and I went to the regular season finale on Sunday for the Rockies as well. With the 1:05 start, San Diego and Milwaukee had been playing for an hour when we got to the ballpark and it was 3-0 San Diego when we arrived at Coors Field. It was looking like the Rockies’ magical run was going to come up short. The first six innings were tension filled as Ubaldo Jimenez worked on a no hitter for the Rockies while everyone was scoreboard watching. Coors Field roared every time the out of town scoreboard added a Milwaukee run. Milwaukee surged ahead and ended up winning 11-6 over San Diego, meaning that a Rockies win would force a tiebreaker. The buzz built in Coors Field. The game was tied at 1 going to the bottom of the 8th when the San Diego score went final. The Rockies offense responded with 3 runs, taking a 4-1 lead to the top of the 9th. But nothing is easy for the Rockies, as the D’Backs scored 2 before Corpas got the final out and Helton bounded across the infield as the Rockies forced a Wild Card Tiebreaker with the Padres.
Andrea and I managed to get tickets for last night’s Wild Card Tiebreaker at King Soopers. The game started at 5:37 pm with soon to be NL Cy Young Award winner, Jake Peavy, pitching for the Padres and Josh Fogg for the Rockies. The Rockies came out and scored 2 in the first and 1 in the second for a 3-0 lead. But the Padres punched back for 5 runs in the 3rd. The Rockies came back again, eventually taking a 6-5 lead. This game was a true heavyweight fight, and neither team wanted their season to come to an end. The lead should have been 7-5 after a Garrett Atkins home run was ruled a double. And then Matt Holliday played a line drive out into a double in the 8th and we’re tied at 6. The bullpens started putting up zeros. The 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th passed with no score in the most tension filled, nerve wracking game I’ve ever been at. The Rockies bring in Jorge Julio in the 13th. A walk, a 2 run home run and another walk chases Julio without recording an out and the Rockies trailing 8-6. The dreams are crashing down around us and you could hear a pin drop at Coors Field. The Padres bring on Mr. Hells Bells, Trevor Hoffman to close it out in the 13th. But LoDo Magic comes roaring back again against the all-time saves leader. Kaz Matsui doubles to right and Coors Field is jumping again. Another double by Troy Tulowitzki leaves the Rockies down 1 with Matt Holliday coming up to chants of M-V-P with a chance to atone for his earlier mistake. Holliday crushes a triple off the out of town scoreboard and the game is tied. The Padres walk Helton, but Jamey Carroll hits a sac fly to right field and Holliday charges home. Rockies win 9-8 in 13 innings to claim the NL Wild Card! Purple Playoffs!!!
I can’t ever remember a more exciting weekend of sports. Against the longest of odds, the cards kept falling our way all weekend long. CU scores it’s biggest football victory in 6 years, and we get to watch the first playoff game at Coors Field in 12 years this coming Saturday. I don’t know that it can get any better than this!
