"God has his fingerprints all over this game."

I stole it. Clint Hurdle said that about game 4 and it resonated with me all day long. What Aaron Cook and Jon Lester went through to get to this point, to get the ball, was God's work. What they did after "Play Ball" was awe inspiring in a million ways.

Hate to see the cheap shots taken by fans and writers at what went down over the last 5 days with regards to the series and Colorado's team. They may not use it as an excuse, I certainly don't expect to hear it from Helton, Holliday Hurdle or any others, but the 8 days between games, in my opinion, had a negative effect on them. I still believe we are the best team in the world, and 8 days or not we would have won, but I think it did impact them in many different ways. 8 days off and then you step in the box and have to face the best pitcher on the planet? Hats off to the NL Champions for redefining comeback and "against all odds". What they did to even get to the 2007 World Series needs to be etched in stone. I think it will be lost over the next few months because of the outcome of the Series but it shouldn't be, they did it with class and style. They played the game right and hard. Seeing true, old school, blue collar guys like Todd Helton finally getting into the World Series after putting up Hall worthy numbers his whole career is a cool thing.

The games were Twittered by @redsoxcast. Some Twitter Red Sox victory tweets can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.



Posted on October 29, 2007
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There are three criteria that Sports Media Challenge use to rank blogs for the top 10 - Influence, Fan Engagement and Quality. These criteria combine quantitative aspects, including the number of incoming links that connect to the blog, number of fan comments as well as qualitative measurement by Sports Media Challenge analysts.

For me personally, there will be some change. For the first time in nearly a decade, I'll have a regular paycheck, benefits someone else pays for, and paid vacation. And TrueHoop will, I would assume, reach a bigger audience than ever. It will soon be moving to ESPN.com (although you will always be able to reach it at this address, which will redirect).

I'm very excited that TrueHoop is just going to be better than ever, honestly. Not to sound all cornball about it. But I really buy that. The timing here is perfect: I'm joining a respected mainstream media site with a massive audience, working alongside some professionals I deeply respect, just at the moment in history that mainstream media sites are really starting to appreciate the power of the blog. My job description is essentially self-created and it's my dream job--which I know because I have already been trying it out for nearly two years.

If this doesn't turn out to be fun, then I'm doing something seriously wrong.

"The Female Fan' is the place to go for women who want to talk football," said Kellie Gould, Editor-in-Chief, iVillage.com. "Whether they simply want fun facts to impress friends or if the goal is gaining more game insight, Betsy's blog is their source."

On any given day, Nick opines about anything from his favorite Detroit sports franchises to NASCAR to which players have the best and worst hair in the World Cup. On average, he makes two posts a day, combining his love of writing and sports to create what has already earned the designation of AOL's Sports Blog of the Week.

"I'm most impressed with how prolific he is," said Jamie Mottram, who appears on ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" as the program's blogging expert.

"Nick posts something just about every day and offers a nice mix of commentary, links, photos and quotes."

When I get home.....I will be doing my homework, because school comes before everything. Then with other stuff, I have hockey and friends.

So don't expect me to make as many entries and I usually do.

The first set of blogs--which quietly rolled out last week--are devoted to the NFL, with AOL Sports now hosting one blog for each of the 32 professional NFL teams as well as a handful of other blogs devoted to subjects like fantasy football. The new blog section, dubbed "Fanhouse," will soon add more than 40 additional blogs devoted to college football. AOL is paying all of the new bloggers for each entry they write.

The goal, says Neal Scarbrough, General Manager of AOL Sports, is to increase the amount of time users spend on AOL's sports section. "AOL wants to crank up our sports coverage as a whole," he said, adding that the company specifically wants to boost user engagement.

AOL will promote the blogs through partnerships with other online sites, including fellow Time Warner property SI.com--the Web site of Sports Illustrated magazine.

Sports blogs are one of the strongest niches in the blogosphere and have received a great deal of publicity and notice from the mainstream media. Sports bloggers deserve some respect and gratification for the work they do, and that's what I hope this will accomplish.

1. Athletics Nation
2. Baseball Musings
3. MetsBlog
4. Bleed Cubbie Blue
5. Viva El Birdos
6. USS Mariner
7. Lookout Landing
8. Minor League Ball
9. MLB Trade Rumors
10. Baseball Analysts